Editor Rebecca Clarke, rebecca.clarke@icis.com

     NOTE: For full details on the criteria ICIS pricing uses in making these price assessments visit www.icispricing.com and click on “methodology”.

The European hydrochloric acid (HCl) market was reported as tight this week in Germany and the UK but balanced in the rest of Europe. 

Buy and sell sides confirmed that prices were stable at current contract levels despite several plant outages and supply tightness in certain regions. 

HCl supply in the UK was hit by the dual force of planned maintenance at INEOS and an incident that shuttered Cristal Global’s Stallingborough plant, which produces roughly 10,000 tonnes of HCl per year, according to market players.

Four workers were injured at the plant, which primarily produces titanium tetrachloride (TiCL4), when a toxic gas cloud was released early morning on Friday, 5 March. A company spokeswoman said the plant was to remain closed “until we are confident that we can restart and operate safely.” Market sources said the shutdown was expected to have a serious impact on HCl supply in the UK.

Meanwhile, INEOS was set to begin a two-week maintenance shutdown. Buy and sell sides said previously that the producer had stockpiled in preparation for the turnaround, but buyers had experienced trouble topping up their supply in advance of the shutdown due to other maintenance issues.

Market sources reported that prices in the UK were currently stable in the £140-150/tonne FD range for 36% acid, but that the problems could drive increases in the £15-20/tonne range later in the year.

German producers reported tightness due to maintenance issues and continued demand from central Europe. Several producers reported continued demand from Polish buyers, but said they had no extra material for the region.

A producer said one of its plants would enter a planned maintenance for several weeks in March, but said it did not expect the turnaround to affect supply on the merchant market. Meanwhile, BASF’s Schwarzheide, Germany, TDI unit came back online this week after a scheduled five-day maintenance to address technical problems.

In France, Benelux and southern Europe, supply was reported as balanced to long. Several planned maintenances upstream were not expected to significantly impact the market. Some spot availability in France was reported in the €90-100/tonne FD range. There were conflicting reports regarding the market in Italy, with one distributor reporting supply as longer than other parts of Europe and one producer reporting a balanced market.

Upstream, several production developments had the potential to impact HCl markets.

Perstorp was ramping up operating rates at its TDI facility at Le Pont de Claix, France, following a week-long maintenance turnaround. The unit went into scheduled maintenance at the end of February, which had been brought forward by one month due to mechanical requirements. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producer Vestolit was also restarting its 400,000 tonne/year facility in Marl, Germany, following a scheduled maintenance

On MDI, Bayer's facility at Tarragona, Spain, went down for routine maintenance at the end of February. The turnaround was expected to last for approximately two weeks, according to a company source.

Additionally, forthcoming maintenance included BASF’s planned outage at its MDI plant at Antwerp, Belgium, scheduled for the second half of March. Another NWE MDI unit was also due to go down for planned maintenance in early Q2. The duration was expected to be approximately two to three weeks.

Covering editor: Libby George

($1=€0.74)

This week on ICIS news ( www.icis.com):

05-Mar-10 12:13 Vestolit ramps up PVC production at Marl, Germany

05-Mar-10 08:23 Four injured in chemical leak at Cristal's UK plant

04-Mar-10 15:43 Huntsman to increase Europe MDI prices by €200/tonne

01-Mar-10 15:19 Bayer MaterialScience invests €150m in 300,000t/year TDI plant