Solvay to
close sodium
petrochemicals lane kelley houston
Asia cargoes
pressure US
methanol prices
Two 17,000 tonne cargoes are headed to the US from
Indonesia and Malaysia. US spot prices fall further
More methanol shipments from
southeast Asia have pushed US
spot barge prices down by 5
cents/gal, sources said on
20 March.
US spot barge prices began
slipping earlier this month on
news of four other methanol
shipments.
Prices slipped further during
the week of 17 March to 157-158
cents/gal from 162-163 cents/gal
at the close of trading on
14 March.
The latest shipments are two
17,000-tonne cargoes, one on the
Chemstar Masa out of Bontang,
Indonesia, loading at the end of
March, and the other on the Fair-
chem Mustang from Labuan,
Malaysia, loading in the first half
of April.
Methanol sources said there
are no known plant outages,
though a plant in Venezuela has
a turnaround scheduled in
April.
Methanol plants in Trinidad
have been experiencing cut-
backs in natural gas supplies
since January, so those condi-
tions are not new.
Sources said the dip in US spot
barge prices has created some
worry in the US market, particu-
US METHANOL PRICES
$/gal, spot barges FOB US Gulf
600
500
400
300
Mar
2012
www.icis.com
price & market trends
percarbonate plant
Trends P23
larly among those who chartered
the shipments. “They’re a little
panicked,” a seller said.
CHINA PRICES PLUNGE
The panic over imports totalling
110,000 tonnes stems from the
recent collapse in methanol
prices in Asia and China, but
­
more so in China than in
­southeast Asia, a US trader said.
China spot methanol prices
have dropped more than 20%
this year, putting a burden on
producers in Indonesia and
­Malaysia to find new customers,
hence the US shipments.
But a look at the major costs in-
volved shows a narrow window
of opportunity that may already
have closed.
Asian methanol spot prices on
Thursday ran $440-450/tonne,
as assessed by ICIS.
Those prices are $80/tonne
lower than US spot barge prices,
which convert to about
$526/tonne.
But the Asian discount does
not quite cover the cost of ship-
ping to the US, which is $90-95/
tonne on the cargoes, according
to brokers.
“I would’ve thought the arb
was closed,” a US trader said. ■
Mar
2014
EUROPE ETHYL ACRYLATE PRICES
€/tonne, contract FD NWE
1,950
1,900
1,850
1,800
Mar
2013
intermediates Helena Strathearn london
Europe acrylate esters
contract price flat to up
European March acrylate esters
contract prices have rolled over
or risen by €10-20/tonne from the
previous month, depending on
ester and starting point, sources
said on 19 March.
Acrylate esters include methyl
acrylate (methyl-A), ethyl acrylate
(ethyl-A), butyl acrylate (butyl-A)
and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate (2-EHA).
The March feedstock propyl-
ene contract price rolled over, but
acrylates producers have re-
mained firm with their aim to im-
prove margins.
Demand from the coatings,
adhesives and sealants sectors is
stable to slightly healthier than it
was in February, and offtake is
in line with or better than it was
at the same time last year, with
some indicating an improve-
ment of up to 8-10% compared
with March 2013.
But many sources said that
buying interest could be better,
adding that uncertainty contin-
ues to sap confidence.
One supplier said: “It’s better.
The weather is helping this year.
We had
Xxxxx winter until May last
xxxxxx
Xxxxxxx
year, andxxxxthis year the warmer
Xxxxxxx xxxx
temperatures
Xxxxx xxxxxx are helping de-
mand.
XxxxxxxPeople
xxxx are already think-
Xxxxxxx xxxx
ing about painting. We are seeing
additional demand, with March
being better than February,
which is natural.”
It added that demand levels
from southern Europe were posi-
tive: “Maybe people are more mo-
tivated especially in the south of
31 March-6 April 2014 | ICIS Chemical Business | 21
Xxxxx x
Xxxxxx
Xxxxxx
Xxxxx x
Xxxxxx
Xxxxxx
Mar
2014
Europe, because they are seeing
some recovery in the economy.”
A buyer explained that its bu-
tyl-A contract prices had risen on
good demand, margin recovery
and as volumes were not as
ample as they had been. It added:
“The market is still well sup-
plied, there is no problem [get-
ting material], but maybe it is
shrinking a little bit.”
The pricing and demand out-
look for April is unclear, but it is
widely expected that producers
will continue to push for higher
prices to recoup costs, and that
demand will at least remain sta-
ble, if not improve as the coatings
season gets underway.
“We can anticipate in April
we will see a rollover or margin-
al movement either way,” the
buyer added. “If we see propyl-
ene go down, I’m pretty sure
suppliers will try to keep prices
at the same level. It seems mar-
gins are not acceptable.”
Traders said that March spot
enquiries had been limited.
However, one added: “There are
surprisingly a lot of enquiries for
butyl-A for April business. I ex-
pect April to be more firm than
March and butyl-A spot prices
should increase.”
The March propylene contract
settled at €1,130/tonne FD (free
delivered) NWE (northwest Eu-
rope), the second consecutive
rollover for 2014. Acrylic acid
(AA) and its esters are principally
propylene derivatives. ■