Brazil has extended its polyvinyl chloride import duty for another three months at 4%, the Official Gazette showed.

The duty is on suspension-made PVC, according to the Official Gazette, as written on March 23 and published online on March 24..

On Dec. 11, 2020, the government decided to decrease the import duty to 4% from 14%, valid for an initial period of three months.

The measure was set to expire on March 11 and is now expected to be valid again seven days after its publication.

The import duty is extendable for another three months if the Chamber of Foreign Trade sees that "market offer conditions" for the PVC have not been fully restored, the Official Gazette said.

PVC imports have a quarterly quota limit into Brazil of 160,000 mt. Imports of PVC from countries with existing free trade agreements will not count in the160,000 mt/quarter quota, the document said.

The decision was taken after a meeting between the Brazilian Construction Chamber and the Ministry of Economy in the first week of March to discuss the extension of the lower tax, arguing there's no product in the market and supply is fundamental for the sector.

Brazil has current antidumping measures against PVC imports from Mexico (ad valorem of 18%) and the US (ad valorem of 16%), valid until the end of September.

Mexico's Pemex recently announced it had discovered more than 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent in an onshore complex in the state of Tabasco, near the site where the company is planning to build its Dos Bocas refinery.

That's a large discovery, but there are serious questions about Pemex's ability to reach its stated production goals.

S&P Global Platts editors Sheky Espejo in Mexico City and Starr Spencer in Houston examine Mexico's newest discovery.

Source: SP Global