On April 1, the Indian government announced the reduction of import tariffs on polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) from 7.5% to 0%. The policy officially took effect on April 2 for a tentative 3-month period, aiming to ease domestic inflation driven by regional conflicts. (This notice shall be effective from April 2, 2026 to June 30, 2026 inclusive.)
India’s Temporary Import Tariff Exemption: A Window for Faster Exports Opens
China is currently the world’s most stable major producer and supplier of PVC. Although the industry will enter a peak period of plant maintenance from April to July this year, market supply will remain stable backed by high social inventories. China’s PVC market is well-positioned to play an irreplaceable role in maintaining regional supply and demand balance.
Affected by the prolonged regional conflicts, India has been grappling with high energy costs, unstable industrial chain supply and heightened operational risks in its basic processing and chemical industries. On April 1, 2026, the Indian government announced temporary import tariff exemptions for more than 40 commodities, including PVC resin and paste resin, to ease market supply risks and alleviate domestic inflationary pressures.
This policy will effectively reduce the import procurement costs for Indian local traders and downstream customers. At present, China’s calcium carbide-based PVC not only has sufficient supply, but also holds the advantage of being a global cost and price depression. India’s purchasing enthusiasm is expected to rebound rapidly in the short term. In addition, April to May is India’s peak demand season for PVC, and there remains considerable room for stock replenishment in the local market after digesting existing inventories.
Adjustment of Export Tax Rebate Policy: Driving Faster PVC Export Deliveries
On January 8, 2026, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration issued an announcement on adjusting the export tax rebate policy for photovoltaic products, PVC and other goods, specifying the cancellation of VAT export tax rebates for relevant products starting from April 1, 2026. This means that PVC export quotations will face an approximate 13% increase, leading to a significant rise in long-term price competition pressure in the export market.
Affected by the expectation of this policy, domestic and foreign PVC traders have made advance layouts and increased procurement before the official implementation of the policy. Data from Longzhong Information shows that the export order volume of domestic PVC producers saw a marked increase from the announcement of the policy to the Spring Festival.
With the climb in transaction volume, domestic PVC export order prices also rose steadily, surging from a low of $540/ton FOB to $620/ton FOB during the Spring Festival. However, as prices rose sharply, the pace of export order signing slowed slightly, which confirms that price competitiveness is the core factor influencing advance order grabbing and transaction scale – it is the price advantage that has spurred this round of PVC export order rush.
Highly Concentrated Export Markets, India as the Core Traditional Destination
In January-February 2026, China’s PVC exports were mainly destined for India, Southeast Asia and Central Asia. Among them, exports to India accounted for about 38% with an average FOB price of around $580/ton, which is basically consistent with the average order price monitored by Longzhong Information from December 2025 to January 2026.
Data also shows that China’s PVC export volume to the Middle East exceeded 20,000 tons in January-February, accounting for more than 3% of the total exports. Despite the subsequent escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, its impact on China’s overall PVC exports is relatively limited in terms of export volume.
Post time: Apr-03-2026