Petrochemical producer Georgia Gulf will keep its prices unchanged for suspension-grade PVC resins for November and December of this year, by will increase prices 3 cents/lb effective January, the company said in a letter sent to its customers Thursday.

"Although we are all currently facing a challenging and uncertain market, we feel that this price increase is necessary to improve operating margins and to offset recent increases in our key raw materials due to rising energy and feedstock costs," the company said.

The US PVC export price was assessed Wednesday at $795/mt FAS Houston, an increase of $25/mt from previous week, due to reports of higher feedstock ethylene prices.

Since being assessed by Platts October 28 at 48 cents/lb, ethylene prices have risen 3.25 cents/lb, or 6.7%, through to Wednesday's assessment of 51.25 cents/lb.

On the domestic side, however, the PVC price was assessed at 40 cents/lb, a penny down from last week on expectations of weaker seasonal demand.