Europe capro players in dispute on April talks

16 April 2008 14:09  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--The majority of April caprolactam contract price discussions were ongoing in Europe despite hopes for an earlier settlement than March in line with the lower benzene level, producers and consumers said on Wednesday.

A large producer said that is was adopting a "more cautious approach".

“We need to consider exchange rates and slowing economies, things are difficult. We are considering a €5-10/tonne [$8-16/tonne] price decrease for April contracts,” he added.

“Most prices are fixed and we are seeing an average decrease of €20-25/tonne,” said another large producer. “The benzene decrease in the end had quite an impact,” the source added.

Consumers meanwhile were hoping to achieve a steeper reduction than producers were prepared to offer.

“We still have not agreed and we don’t see an early settlement,” a large buyer said. “We wanted the full €45/tonne April benzene decrease but we have agreed one contract at a €30/tonne decrease.”

The buying source said that it was still pushing for more but suppliers ‘will not go to €35/tonne’. “The market is no longer the producers. It’s not about what we can recover any more but how much we lose,” the source concluded.

The direction of the benzene contract is key to caprolactam price discussions.

In March benzene settled at €787/tonne FOB NWE and as a result the March caprolactam contract firmed €40/tonne, settling at €1,964-2,005/tonne FD NWE.

Downstream, demand for polyamide (PA6) remained steady although it was suggested that manufacturers were cutting back on production because of poor margins and unfavourable exchange rates.

European caprolactam producers include BASF, DSM, Domo Caproleuna and Lanxess.

($1 = €0.63)

For more on caprolactam visit ICIS chemical intelligence

By: Julia Meehan
+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