Dow calls FM on Europe ethylene amines supply

09 June 2008 17:41  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Dow Chemical has declared force majeure on its European ethylene amine supplies, following production issues in the US, a company source confirmed on Monday.

Dow’s Taft plant, in Louisiana has been experiencing some technical difficulties which resulted in the company imposing supply restrictions on ethylene amine (EA) and related products in the US at the end of May.

The Dow source said although ethylene amine production at its Terneuzen site in the Netherlands was fully operational, European customers were also supplied by the US Taft facility.

This had resulted in the force majeure spreading to Europe on the following ethylene amine products: ethylene diamine (EDA), diethylene triamine and amino ethyl piperazine, amino ethyl ethanolamine.

Sales allocations were expected to differ according to product, but precise information was not available. According to a company press release, allocations were likely to be in force until at least early July.

The restrictions were seen to add further pressure on the already tight European EDA market due to the combination of strong demand and the spate of maintenance turnarounds, both on upstream ethylene oxide (EO) and for EDA.

Due to the additional tightness, some EDA sellers had already taken the opportunity to put forward their initial third quarter offers earlier than expected, targeting plus €150-200/tonne ($237-316/tonne).

Second-quarter contract prices were assessed €45/tonne up at €1,950-2,030/tonne on a free delivered (FD) northwest Europe (NWE) basis, according to global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing.

One customer had said it considered proposed hikes of €200/tonne very optimistic, stating that it was too early to make any firm decisions.

In addition, there was some speculation that a turnaround at Dow and Huntsman’s joint venture (JV) EDA and ethanolamine unit at Terneuzen could be delayed.

The maintenance was due to start in mid-June but could be postponed until later in 2008. This was thought to be due to Dow’s EDA supply difficulties in both Europe and the US. However, this was not confirmed at source.

For more on amines visit ICIS chemical intelligence
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By: Heidi Finch
+44 20 8652 3214

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