China’s caprolactam supply is expected to increase to 1.3m tonnes in 2012, up from 1.15m tonnes, in line with high import volumes and new capacities that are scheduled to come on stream this year, industry sources said.
The country is expected to import 620,000 tonnes of caprolactam in 2012, which is a rise of 0.8%, while its domestic output is expected to grow by 28.1% to 680,000 tonnes, according to data from Chemease, an ICIS service in China.
Caprolactam imports in 2012 are expected to remain at high levels because of the lower rate of anti-dumping duties since October 2011.
In Europe caprolactam supply is tightening, as consumers are pre-buying material ahead of planned maintenance at DSM in the Netherlands in March.
European players expect prices to rise in March as a result of the outage, the need to recover margins, and rising demand. As a result, players are already sourcing material for March, and producers said that they are unable to meet the demand.
Demand is increasing because of exports to Asia, as a result of restocking following the Lunar New Year, and rising European consumption in the downstream nylon market, driven by the automotive sector.