Europe November MEA prices narrow, DEA and TEA stable

24 November 2010 23:59  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--European November ethanolamine contract prices for diethanolamine (DEA) and triethanolamine (TEA) were stable from October, but some upward pressure led to a narrower monoethanolamine (MEA) price range, sources said on Wednesday.

November MEA prices were assessed at €1,180-1,250/tonne ($1,573-1,667/tonne) FD (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe), up by €40/tonne on the lower end of the range from October.

Firmer MEA prices were a result of the €28/tonne increase in the November ethylene contract price and a tighter market resulting from last month's strikes in France, which led INEOS Oxide to declare a month-long force majeure at its Lavera plant in France.

In addition, producers were pushing for price increases in MEA to counterbalance poor margins in the related DEA market. Healthy demand from ethylene amine (EA) production also put upward pressure on prices.

While most of these conditions also applied to the TEA market, prices for November contracts were assessed stable from October at €1,250-1,350/tonne FD NWE.

Most producers had not targeted such steep increases for TEA as they had done with MEA, and demand for TEA under monthly contracts had been mostly stable.

The DEA market had also changed little, with November prices remaining stable at €930-980/tonne FD for the sixth consecutive month.

The DEA market was still oversupplied and there was weak demand, which is expected to be the case going forward.

One of the large European DEA buyers was understood to be off stream at least until the end of the year, and some market players said the upcoming increases in global ethanolamine capacity in Asia could worsen DEA oversupply in the longer term

($1 = €0.75)

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By: Rita Menezes
+44 208 652 3214

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