Europe October PA falls €50-80/tonne

17 October 2008 23:59  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--European October phthalic anhydride (PA) have fallen €50-80/tonne ($68-108/tonne) for liquid and €80-110/tonne for flake material, reflecting the upstream orthoxylene (OX) settlement, players saidd on Friday.

October PA contract prices were pegged at €1,150-1,170/tonne (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe) for liquid and €1,020-1,090/tonne FD NWE for flake, according to global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing.

The upstream OX contract price was down €80/tonne earlier in the week, at €790/tonne FD NWE. 

With most PA settlements are based on a formula-related contract, it had already been widely anticipated that PA prices would go down.

However, with major producer Arkema having declared force majeure on PA supplies to its consumers, some players said the liquids market was closer to being balanced than expected.

A trader said that, because of the force majeure, “sentiment [was] nervous” and that “the market [was] maybe not as oversupplied as people had thought”.

A source at Arkema said that the company hoped to restart its production lines in the course of next week, but in the meantime it had advised its customers to look elsewhere for spot material.

Demand in the PA market remains weak, and the downstream plasticisers market continues to struggle in the current economical downturn.

Spot European PA was notionally assessed lower on Friday by ICIS pricing to €1,050-1,120/tonne FD NWE for liquid and €930-980/tonne for flake.

($1 = €0.74)

For more on PA visit ICIS chemical intelligence
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By: Madelon Ten Cate
+44 20 8652 3214

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