Oleochemicals news in brief

23 April 2012 00:00  [Source: ICB]

BASF RAISES US OLEOCHEMICAL PRICES
BASF will increase prices for all fatty alcohols and methyl esters by 5-10% effective May 1, or as contracts allow. BASF cited significant increases in raw material costs as the reason behind the price hikes.

ED&F MAN, BIOMCN PARTNER ON GLYCERIN
UK-based ED&F Man has partnered with the Netherlands-based biofuels producer BioMCN for the sourcing, risk management and delivery of crude glycerin from Argentina. BioMCN uses crude glycerin as feedstock for producing bio-methanol, which can be blended directly with gasoline and/or used for fuels such as biobased MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether), biodiesel, and biobased DME (dimethyl ether).

THAI FATTY ALCOHOLS PLANT IN MAINTENANCE
Thai Fatty Alcohols will shut its 100,000 tonnes/year fatty alcohols unit at Rayong, Thailand, for a catalyst change in the first three weeks of May as part of its annual maintenance schedule. The plant also produces 200,000 tonnes/year of methyl ester and 30,000 tonnes/year of glycerin. The shutdown will not impact short-term fatty alcohol supplies, according to a company official.

US FATS AND GREASE EXPORTS ARE DOWN
Exports of US rendered fats and greases in 2011 were 1.2m tonnes, down by 13% from 2010, the trade group National Renderers Association (NRA) said. Inedible tallow exports drop by 24% to 597,500 tonnes due to the strength of tallow prices, which was sold at a premium against competing palm oil for most of 2011. If tallow prices remain strong against palm oil prices, the US will continue to see reduced tallow exports, the NRA said.

By: Doris de Guzman
+1 713 525 2653

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