More players support Europe Q4 methanol rollover

25 September 2008 13:53  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Major methanol producer StatoilHydro has followed the European methanol settlement at a rollover of €295/tonne ($434/tonne) with two of its customers, a company source said on Thursday.

"We see most of the market fundamentals are the same as a quarter ago," said a source at StatoilHydro. "We see that there is uncertainty with the global economy and at the end of the day we feel a rollover will provide stability."

While the buyers involved confirmed that they had agreed to follow the €295/tonne FOB (free on board) Rotterdam number initially agreed between Helm and two of its customers on Tuesday, one said that the agreement was out of line with its expectations.

"I was asked the question, 'would I follow?' And the answer was yes," said a buying source at one of StatoilHydro’s counter-parties.

"But if I was asked a different question 'Would I have settled at that number?' Then the answer is no, I would have argued for a €10-20/tonne reduction."

Large buyers in the market said they would continue to argue this point despite growing support among small to medium-sized players in the market for the rollover.

($1 = €0.68)

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By: Shelley Kerr
+44 20 8652 3214

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