High captive consumption and production outages at several European manufacturing sites have sustained oxo-alcohols prices despite softer upstream propylene values, which this week settled at €1,115/tonne FD NWE for August, down by €15/tonne from July.
Slow demand continues to exert downwards pressure on prices of plasticisers, which are at €1,500-1,550/tonne FD NWE for dioctyl phthalate (DOP), €1,700-1,800/tonne FD NWE for di-isononyl phthalate (DINP) and di-isodecyl phthalate (DIDP), and €1,720-1,820/tonne FD NWE for di-propyl heptanol ester (DPHP).
Butanol and 2-EH
Prices remain stable at €1,270-1,320/tonne FD NWE for n-butanol (NBA). According to one supplier, some business has been done below €1,270/tonne. However, most prices remain at the above-published range.
One producer said robust demand had increased prices for isobutanol (IBA) by €10/tonne to €1,280-1,330/tonne FD NWE. Pending further confirmation, prices remain unchanged at the above-published range.
Prices of 2-ethylhexanol (2-EH) are at €1,550-1,625 for 2EH, unchanged from last week.
Plasticisers
Slow demand continues to exert downwards pressure on the prices of plasticisers. However, suppliers expect the market to stablise in the next few weeks as several European manufacturing sites enter their turnaround season.
DOP prices have decreased by €10/tonne to €1,500-1,550/tonne. The negative sentiment in the DOP market is caused by a gradual shift of demand by to alternative REACH-friendly plasticisers.
DOP is classified as a substance of “high concern” under the EU’s REACH regulations, with many market players claiming the plasticiser will be completely replaced by 2015.
In the meantime, producers continue to run their facilities at reduced capacities and considering – if they have not already done so – alternative plasticisers. According to one supplier, the DOP nameplate capacity in Europe is about 200,000 tonnes/year.
Demand for DINP and DIDP remains slow because of the summer holiday season. This has exerted downwards pressure on prices, especially in southern European countries such as Italy, where a buyer said prices were at €1,600-1,700/tonne.
In northwest Europe, the majority of business has been done at €1,700-1,800/tonne FD NWE. One major producer said most business is done at €1,750-1,830/tonne. Pending further confirmation from the buy-side, the high end of the above-published range remains unchanged.
On the other hand, a major buyer has confirmed July prices at €1,645-1,680/tonne for DINP. Pending further confirmation from the supply-side, the low end of the range remains unchanged.
Demand for DPHP is healthier. Prices are at €1,720-1,820/tonne FD NWE.
According to the European Council for Plasticisers and Intermediates, high phthalates DINP, DIDP, DPHP, DIUP and DTDP represent just over 80% of all the phthalates currently being produced in Europe.
Risk assessments have shown positive results regarding the safe use of this group of substances. They have all been registered for REACH and do not require any classification for health and environmental effects, nor are they on the Candidate List for Authorisation.
Two suppliers have confirmed prices of trioctyl trimellitate TOTM at €1,950-2,000. This plasticiser, traditionally used for wires and cables, is gradually replacing DOP in medical applications such as blood bags because it is a non-migrating plasticiser, meaning the chemical does not migrate out of materials into the human body. Demand for this product is described as healthy.
A producer has confirmed prices of GPO at €1,750-1,850. Demand for this product is described as healthy. GPO is a general-purpose plasticiser used in automotive, construction and food applications, making it suitable as an alternative to DOP and DINP.
Production
BASF plans to build a second 100,000 tonne/year plant for phthalate-free plasticiser Hexamoll DINCH (di-isononyl-cyclohexane-dicarboxylate) at Ludwigshafen, Germany, to meet growing demand.
The plant, expected to start up in 2013, will raise BASF’s Hexamoll DINCH capacity at Ludwigshafen to 200,000 tonnes/year.
The expansion will be the second capacity increase since BASF launched the product in 2002. In 2007, BASF quadrupled the original plant capacity to 100,000 tonnes/year.
The investment decision is driven by strong increases in demand across all regions, as well as continued growth of demand for alternative plasticisers, Rainer Diercks, president of BASF’s petrochemicals division, said.
Elsewhere, Italian chemical company Polynt will shut down its plasticisers facilities at San Giovanni Valdarno, near Florence, on 1 August for a two-week turnaround, a company source said on Friday, joining other producers in the annual maintenance season.
Polynt's units have a combined capacity of 110,000 tonnes/year for all plasticisers, including dioctyl phthalate (DOP), di-propyl heptyl phthalate (DPHP), di-isononyl phthalate (DINP) and(TOTM).
It expects to build up enough inventories in order to continue to supply its customers during the operations, the source said.
Other planned shutdowns for plasticiser producers include France-based Arkema’s DOP and phthalic anhydride (PA) facilities, in Chauny, France.
The units, which have a nameplate capacity of 70,000 tonnes/year for DOP and 90,000 tonnes/year for PA, will start a two-week maintenance shutdown this weekend.
Supply will not be affected during the turnaround because weak demand has allowed the company to build inventories in advance.
Sweden-based Perstorp will have a maintenance shutdown at its 65,000 tonne/year plasticisers unit in the second half of September.
The facilities in Stenungsund, Sweden, produce both DOP and DPHP.
Its 120,000 tonne/year 2-EH unit, also at Stenungsund, will undergo maintenance work in the first half of September.
The company’s 90,000 tonne/year NBA plant shut down for maintenance on 27 July and is expected to restart the week ending 12 August.
Because of technical problems, the NBA plant has been running at reduced capacity, hindering the company’s efforts to build inventories before the shutdown, a company source said.
Germany-based BASF’s plasticisers facilities at Ludwigshafen will undergo annual maintenance in September.
The facilities have a combined capacity of 300,000 tonnes/year for all plasticisers (including DINP and DPHP), and a capacity of 100,000 tonnes/year for the company's Hexamoll DINCH plasticiser.
Polish company Zaklady Azotowe Kedzierzyn (ZAK) restarted its oxo-alcohols complex on 25 July.
The plant, at Kedzierzyn-Kozle in southern Poland, shut down on 26 June for three weeks of maintenance, but technical problems delayed the restart by one week.
It has a nameplate capacity of 60,000 tonnes/year of DOP, 36,000 tonnes/year of NBA, 24,000 tonnes/year of isobutanol (IBA) and 132,000 tonnes/year of 2-EH, according to a company source.
Finally, OXEA’s oxo-alcohols facilities in Oberhausen, Germany, are undergoing maintenance work, including a catalyst change. However, according to a company source, supply is not being affected.
According to ICIS plants and projects, OXEA’s NBA unit has a capacity of 130,000 tonnes/year and the 2-EH unit has a capacity of 300,000 tonnes/year.
Other DOP producers include Oltchim, Orgachim and Deza, while other DINP producers include Evonik Oxeno, ExxonMobil and Deza.
Upstream
The European propylene contract settled at €1,115/tonne FD NWE for August, down by €15/tonne from July. This was the second number to emerge after an initial rollover settlement failed to find the necessary support from the market. While feedstock is firm, the bearish supply-and-demand balance continues to weigh on spot levels, but sources say these are showing signs of stabilising around €900/tonne CIF NWE.
Crude oil prices remained volatile during the week. The inability of US law makers to reach a consensus regarding its self-imposed debt ceiling and a rise in US crude stocks mid-week provided downward pressure to WTI values. However, there was some short-lived bullish momentum in the market after US oil-and-gas facilities were affected by tropical storm Don. ICE Brent prices were steady for most of the week, supported by a weaker dollar. However, continued concern over European debt issues capped gains.
On Friday afternoon, September Brent was trading around $116.70/bbl, down from the previous week’s close of $118.67/bbl. September WTI was trading around $95.95/bbl, down from $99.87/bbl.
European PA activity is limited as the market is awaiting the outcome of the feedstock orthoxylene (OX) August contract settlement.
Demand is weak because of the approach of traditional August end-user closures.
Consumption in southern Europe has been further limited by declining macroeconomic conditions. Industries downstream of PA are predominantly driven by GDP.
Spot trades are rare because most demand is being filled by contracts. Spot prices in northwest Europe remain at €1,130-1,200/tonne FD NWE for liquid and €1,100-1,150/tonne FD NWE for flake.
The OX market remains balanced this week amid limited activity. Business is quiet as a result of planned and unplanned turnarounds in the downstream PA and plasticiser sectors, and several customers stated they are covered by contracted volumes.
However, higher mixed xylenes numbers and firming sentiment in the US has brought the bid level up $15/tonne, for a notional range of $1,300-1,330/tonne FOB Rotterdam. Contract discussions are ongoing.
Asia
Growing buying interest in the Asian oxo-alcohol spot market came to a halt this week, bringing down prices for August and early September shipments.
This is partly because buyers stayed at the sidelines expecting market tightness to reverse following restarts by Chinese major producers, after maintenance shutdowns.
Prices of NBA are at $1,600-1,620/mt CFR NE Asia, down by $10/mt on the low end, and at $1,600-1,630/mt CFR SE Asia, unchanged from last week.
2-EH was assessed at $1,890-1,910/mt CFR East Asia (subject to import duty), up $10/mt on the high end and down $30/mt on the low end, and at $1,995 -2,015/mt CFR East Asia (exempt from import duty), down $10-20/mt.
Exports
Export prices for 2-EH decreased by $30/tonne to $1,750-1,760/tonne, following business done in the last week.
No further business have been heard in the NBA market. Pending further market activity, prices remain stable at $1,430-1,580/tonne FOB NWE T2.
No exports have been heard in the European plasticisers market.
($1 = €0.70)
This week on ICIS ( www.icis.com )
29/07/2011 14:05 Italy's Polynt to shut Florence plasticisers for maintenance on 1 Aug
27/07/2011 04:17 China’s Shandong Lihuayi to restart oxo-alcohol unit 30 July
26/07/2011 06:08 China's BASF-YPC to restart Nanjing oxo-alcohol plant on 27 July
