CEPSA Quimica increases Europe acetone €110/t

12 June 2008 13:43  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--CEPSA Quimica has announced a €110/tonne ($172/tonne) increase on acetone in Europe with immediate effect due to increased upstream, energy and logistical costs and transportation issues related to the Spain truckers strike, a company source said on Thursday.

“We are going to push for an increase of no less than €110/tonne on acetone with immediate effect,” said the source. "We are suffering, we have to do it and this situation can’t go on forever."

“We are being squeezed and its not just benzene or propylene but crude, haulage problems and the ever increasing cost in the logistics”.

The company said that the price announcement not only applied to spot customers, but also for acetone methyl methacrylate (MMA) contract partners from 1 July.

Acetone spot prices have remained flat in Europe at either side of €700/tonne ($1,093/tonne) free delivered (FD) northwest Europe (NWE), according to global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing despite record high energy and feedstock costs.

New phenol capacities coming on stream in Europe over the past 12 months and the lack of export opportunities to Asia and the US, because of unfavourable exchange rates, has resulted in a glut of acetone in Europe.

Acetone is a by-product of phenol. For every tonne of phenol approximately 0.6 tonnes of acetone is produced.

The acetone price announcement followed news that INEOS Phenol would push for a €100/tonne increase in June for acetone spot volumes.

The company has been running production at its Antwerp and Gladbeck plants at reduced rates since the middle of May because of a lack of export opportunities to Asia.

CEPSA Quimica also announced that it has reduced operating rates at the Huelva facility, which produces a total of 600,000 tonnes/year of phenol and 370,000 tonnes/year of acetone.

The decision to cut production was largely a result of the Spanish truckers strike, it said. The company said that although it was integrated it still needed other products, such as caustic soda.

CEPSA Quimica, incorporating subsidiaries Ertisa, Interquisa and Petresa, declined to give specific a specific figure in relation to its reduced operations on phenol and acetone.

($1 = €0.64)

For more on phenol and acetone please visit ICIS chemical intelligence
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By: Julia Meehan
+44 20 8652 3214

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