Europe methanol buyers irate at Q1 proposals

13 December 2007 17:05  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Methanol customers are outraged at suppliers’ proposals to increase first-quarter prices by €170-215/tonne ($248-314/tonne) from the fourth-quarter settlement of €380/tonne, they said on Thursday.

“Helm’s €590/tonne is completely out of range and very bullish,” a customer said.

On Wednesday Helm put €595/tonne on the table for the first quarter, according to a company official.

StatoilHydro was proposing €550/tonne “but would be prepared to settle at €530/tonne,” the customer added.

A StatoilHydro source said: “We want to discuss the contract price with customers and not do negotiations through news letters.”

“We were prepared to accept €520/tonne, but news of $2.25 cents/gal (€508/tonne) in the US will have a bearing on Europe,” another customer said.

A different buyer was vying for a result under €500/tonne “based on Asian prices and the trend in the US.”

An outer-month barge was sold for January at $2.25 cents/gal FOB (free on board) on Tuesday, marking a 25-cent drop from the previously reported January deal at $2.50/gal FOB, according to global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing.

Chinese domestic methanol values continued to slide this week and were hovering around CNY 3,600-3,850/tonne ($489-523/tonne) ex-tank, down CNY 100-150/tonne from last week.

“We had hoped to settle this week because we may be hit with higher numbers on 1 January and need time to prepare our marketing people,” a customer said.

($1 = €0.68/$1 = CNY 7.37)

By: Caroline Howard
+44 20 8652 3214

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly