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Editor: Steven McGinn, steven.mcginn@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”.
US methanol spot barge prices widened during the week ended 26 February. A lack of confirmed deals exacerbated the illiquidity in the market as buyers and sellers were at odds over supply and demand issues.
Sellers justified the increase in spot pricing over the past few weeks as shoring up the eventual tightening of supply in the market, brought on by downed plants in Europe and Asia.
Buyers, meanwhile, claimed a lack of demand in the downstream markets warranted a dip in the spot barge market. A distributor noted that traders have mostly stayed on the sidelines and out of the spot market.
Sellers forecast spot prices to rise in the near term, while buyers saw price dips on the way.
Some rumblings of demand perking up in the formaldehyde market could make up for lost seasonal demand in the washer fluid sector. Extended wintry weather was seen maintaining stable demand in the oil and gas patch.
North American contract prices, as expected, rolled. Southern Chemical Corporation nominated 108 cents/gal ($359/tonne, €266/tonne), while Methanex kept its 110 cents/gal posting.
Methanol spot prices edged higher in Europe this week, supported by news that Mider Helm’s 660,000 tonne/year plant at Leuna, Germany, would likely be out until mid-March at the earliest.
The increases were modest, however, and sources were divided over the extent to which the market would be affected. Deals for March and April were heard at €212-218/tonne FOB Rotterdam, up from €205-212/tonne last week.
($1 = €0.74)
This week in ICIS news ( www.icis.com):
26-Feb-10 00:03 Southern Chemical rolls March methanol at 108 cents/gal
25-Feb-10 13:15 Mider Helm unlikely to restart methanol plant before mid-March
24-Feb-10 16:53 Methanex rolls 110 cents/gal N American methanol contract to March
23-Feb-10 06:08 Malaysia’s Petronas to delay methanol plant restart after blast
22-Feb-10 11:06 Explosion at Petronas' Labuan methanol plant halts operations
