Europe March BPA up €50/tonne at record high on tight supply

11 March 2011 23:59  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--European March bis-phenol A (BPA) freely-negotiated contracts were assessed up by €50/tonne ($68/tonne) to reach a record level of €1,850-2,000/tonne, driven by limited availability and strong demand, sources said on Friday.

“For March, our freely-negotiated contracts have rolled over or gone up €50/tonne,” a major producer said.

Another producer said the majority of its contracts had concluded at €1,950/tonne.

March values settled on a free delivered (FD) northwest Europe (NWE) basis.

Freely-negotiated values were quoted in the range of €1,800-2,000/tonne FD NWE. One producer’s range went as high as €2,100/tonne FD NWE, but values at this level were only confirmed by buyers for spot material.

Spot was valued at €2,000-2,100/tonne FD NWE for European, Russian and Asian material. A small parcel was heard to have been sold at €1,900/tonne FD NWE, but most said spot was no longer trading at this level.

Formula-related contracts settled at €1,670-1,800/tonne FD NWE. For those with formulas related to March benzene, contracts had rolled over. However, for buyers linked to the February benzene price, BPA formula-related contracts had increased by €130/tonne.

Supply remained tight owing to healthy demand from the European polycarbonate and epoxy resins industries. Material was being exported to Asia to meet the robust demand in the region, while the force majeure (FM) at Momentive, along with the turnaround at Bayer was tightening the market further.

“People are screaming for cargo,” a trader said.

A producer said: “Demand is extremely high. We are totally overbooked.”

A major buyer said it would be buying significant volumes from Russia in the coming weeks, adding that: “Availability from Russia is good and I can buy at €2,000/tonne FD NWE.”

March values for feedstock benzene were assessed at $1,225-1,240/tonne CIF ARA, down $145-150/tonne from last week’s close.

Looking ahead to April, demand was likely to remain buoyant and prices were likely to be stable on a high level.

($1 = €0.73)

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By: Helena Strathearn
+44 208 652 3214

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