China PVC Resin Exports Fell in September 2026

China's September 2026 PVC resin exports came in at 312,400 t, down 0.53% MoM, with India-bound shipments off 16% as New Delhi's trade controls bit.

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China's PVC resin exports came in at 312,400 tonnes in September 2026, down 0.53% from August and 9.83% below the same month a year earlier, according to customs-derived figures published by Mysteel on 20 October. The January to September total reached 3,230,700 tonnes, still 10.57% ahead of the prior-year period. India, the largest single destination, took 116,500 tonnes, a 16.0% drop from August as New Delhi's trade controls bit into ordering. The reading lands one week after this site covered the ethylene-route production cuts that raised domestic resin costs through the quarter, and the two stories sit on opposite ends of the same feedstock move.

1. The numbers on paper

Where September's exports went:

The figures come from the General Administration of Customs via industry data compilers Mysteel and CICC, published 20 October 2026. The export count measures unmixed suspension and paste resin together; both compilers report the series on the same customs line. A related product line, PVC flooring, exported 384,200 tonnes in September, up 10.78% from August, a separate read on downstream demand that moved the opposite way. The export average price slipped to about USD 683 per tonne, two dollars below August, while the import average price fell to about USD 882 per tonne, a hundred and five dollars lower. The price lines moved the same direction as the volume: a softer export quote and a sharply lower import quote both point to a buyer's market at the margin.

2. What the volume says

The single-month figure held above the 300,000-tonne platform, but the month-on-month and year-on-year growth rates turned negative in the same month. That pairing last appeared when external demand softened. The cumulative total stays positive because the first half ran hot; the September slip trimmed the year-to-date growth rate from the prior reading.

A 0.53% month-on-month dip looks small on its own. Paired with the 9.83% year-on-year fall, the figures show the export machine is no longer accelerating the way it did through the first half. The 3.2307 million-tonne nine-month book remains the second-highest on record for the period, so this is a deceleration, not a collapse. The first three quarters shipped more resin abroad than in any prior year except 2025, and the full-year export total still tracks toward a record if the fourth quarter holds. The September print also widened the gap between the headline volume and the underlying trend. Monthly exports held above 300,000 tonnes for most of 2025 and 2026, so the platform itself is not new; what changed is the direction of travel.

3. India pulled the export number down

India took 116,500 tonnes in September, down 22,200 tonnes from August, a 16.0% fall. Through the first nine months India stayed the top destination, but its monthly share of China's export book is now shrinking. Two controls are in force. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade set a USD 0.766/kg CIF minimum import price on suspension PVC from 24 July 2026 under Notification 25/2026-27. The Directorate General of Trade Remedies moved its countervailing duty investigation to individual assessment for 13 exporter groups on 6 October 2026. A standing anti-dumping duty of USD 122 to 232 per tonne on Chinese origin, in force since the 2025 definitive finding, sits under the new controls. Together they cooled Indian buyers' appetite for Chinese origin.

This site covered both measures when they landed: India's three-layer trade measures. The export data is the first read on how much ordering those controls have already removed. India took roughly a third of China's PVC export book in recent years, so a 16% monthly fall there removes a meaningful slice of total volume on its own. The countervailing duty case now runs on individual margins for each exporter group, so the eventual rate a buyer faces depends on which Chinese plant supplied the resin, not on a single country rate. Which grades make up the export mix is set out in the grade guide; the numeric bands are on the specification table.

4. Southeast Asia and the rest

Southeast Asia entered its seasonal low, with downstream plants cutting operating rates and holding thinner resin inventories, CICC reported. Only the Middle East and Africa held steady on baseline buying, and that volume is too small to offset the India and Southeast Asia slippage. CICC projects October exports in the 280,000 to 300,000-tonne range, which would extend the month-on-month decline. The seasonal pattern repeats most years: fabricators in the region slow output after the mid-autumn demand window and rebuild stocks only when orders return. Buyers in the Middle East and Africa tend to buy on contract, so their volumes hold steady even as spot-driven Southeast Asian demand fades.

The feedstock side tells a separate story. A separate article on this site tracks the ethylene-route production cuts that lifted domestic resin costs through the quarter: ethylene-route PVC output cuts in 2026. Narrower export margins and higher domestic costs are two readings of the same feedstock move. A producer balancing export sales against a rising home-market cost base will favour the market that pays the wider margin, and that has not been the export market this quarter.

5. Imports: small but telling

Imports rose to 8,400 tonnes, up 110% from August, though the absolute gain was only 4,400 tonnes and the year-on-year reading was still down 41.36%. The increase came from rigid replenishment of high-end specialty grades during the domestic peak season, CICC noted. It expects imports to fall back to 4,000 to 6,000 tonnes in October.

For a market that ships out roughly forty times what it brings in, the import line is a footnote. It shows where domestic high-end supply still falls short, and it confirms the peak-season restock stayed narrow. The grades moving in are the ones Chinese plants do not yet make at scale, not a sign of broad import dependence. The specialty grades arriving are mostly high-K and medical-grade resins that domestic capacity has yet to scale. The gap is structural, driven by grade availability and visible in the import mix.

6. What to settle before booking

• The destination's live trade-control status, especially for India-bound cargo
• The supplier's export grades against the buyer's SG specification
• The contract's force-majeure and price-review clauses for feedstock swings
• The landed-cost build under the buyer's own duty line

Two public sources:

• Mysteel: China PVC export data, September 2026 (published 20 October 2026)
• CICC via Sohu: PVC import and export outlook, external demand pressure and softening domestic peak (published 20 October 2026)

Most pipe and profile plants run on SG-5: PVC Resin SG-5 (K 66-68).