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Export prices for acrylonitrile from north america and Europe have moved up $50/m.t., to $800-$850/m.t. fob, since the beginning of the month on improving Asian demand. Order volumes from Asia/Pacific [...]

North American Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) producers say they are confident that prices will move up 2 cts/lb for February, to 40 cts-44 cts/lb del for general purpose. Sellers added 2 [...]

KoSa has announced a 12%-15% price increase for its polyester polymer resins for March 1. The rise does not include polyethylene terephthatlate (PET) resins. KoSa says the increase is justified [...]

Benzene spot prices have risen by as much as 35 cts/gal since December, to $1.35-$1.39/gal fob. Producers have also raised benzene contracts by 25 cts/gal over the past two months, [...]

Methanol prices are declining on cheaper natural gas and are expected to begin the year below December levels, say industry sources. U.S. contracts settled down 0.5 cts/gal for November, to [...]

Dow chemical announced an epoxy resins price increase last week, saying that margins are 'unsustainable' at present levels. Most of Dow's epoxy resins will rise by 6 cts/lb, up 5%; [...]

Oxychem and Olin have followed PPG industries' move to raise chlorine prices by $50/ton, effective immediately for spot customers or as contracts permit (CW, Nov. 24, p. 5). It would [...]

Strong domestic demand has dried up polyvinyl chloride (PVC) supply in the U.S. and pushed up export prices worldwide. PVC export prices have moved up by more than $100/m.t. in [...]

Higher raw material costs are prompting polyester fiber producers to announce more price increases. The latest round of increases will succeed because rationalization has eased oversupply, analysts say. Intermediates prices, [...]

Dow chemical has announced a $50/m.t. global price increase on caustic soda, reflecting a turnaround in the chlor-alkali market worldwide (p. 49). Dow says it is raising caustic prices by [...]

Global Chlor-Alkali markets are in recovery after a yearlong decline, led by a strong North American rebound. Producers have lifted chlorine and caustic soda contract pricing in the U.S. and [...]

AT Plastics (Brampton, ON) announced price increases last week on its ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) products of 3 cts-6 cts/lb, a 10% increase. The company says the hikes are the [...]

The chlor-alkali market has come back with a vengeance, reversing an 18-month slide. Producers have announced caustic soda hike of up to $60/ton for October, doubling prices on the Gulf [...]

Producers are experiencing profits well above last year's expectations as petrochemical prices continue to rise. But delegates at the recent European Petrochemical Association (EPCA) meeting in Vienna say raw material [...]

Delegates were in an upbeat mood at last week's European Petrochemical Association (EPCA) meeting in Vienna despite the dramatic increase in raw material costs this year that has bitten into [...]

Petrochemical makers in europe have achieved substantial fourth-quarter price increases, helped by tight worldwide supply and higher feedstock costs. Propylene contracts have settled at E416/m.t. cif, a 30% increase over [...]

Citing continued tight supply and strong demand, Dow Chemical is leading another round of caustic soda price increases, announcing a $35/ton hike in the U.S. and C$60/m.t. in Canada. In [...]

More phenol capacity is scheduled to come onstream in the U.S. over the next six months than was added between 1990 and 1999. Medium-size customers' contracts have fallen 20 cts, [...]

Strong sodium chlorate demand from the rebounding pulp and paper sector and accelerating chlorate substitution for chlorine have prompted several North American producers to announce price increases. CXY Chemicals and [...]

Strong demand and tight supply paved the way for a 2-cts/lb increase in August polyvinyl chloride (PVC) contracts, to 32 cts-36 cts/lb fob for general-purpose material, say U.S. producers. Steady [...]

Oxychem has announced a $25/ton increase for caustic soda in the U.S. and C$40/m.t. in Canada, effective immediately for spot deals and September 1 for contract customers. Chlor-alkali producers say [...]

U.S. AROMATICS CONTRACT PRICES ROSE steeply for August against rising gasoline and energy costs. Toluene gained the most, as Shell settled toluene diisocyanate-grade contracts at 90 cts/gal fob, a 17-cts/gal [...]

OXYCHEM HAS ANNOUNCED A $25/TON increase for caustic soda in the U.S. and C$40/m.t. in Canada, effective immediately for spot deals and September 1 for contract customers. Chlor-alkali producers say [...]

The recent rise in chlorine prices has restored North American chlor- alkali margins. Chlorine prices have more than doubled, from $45- $65/ton fob in the first quarter to $95-$115/ton, due [...]

General Chemical (Hampton, NH) has announced an $8.25/ton increase for soda ash, the first hike since 1996. 'The increase is necessary to recover reinvestments and coincides with the accelerating recovery [...]

Mississippi Chemical (Yazoo City) says it will shut its 621,000- tons/year Triad Nitrogen ammonia unit at Donaldsonville, LA on August 1 due to market conditions. The second quarter is traditionally [...]

Rising feedstock costs and widespread plant outages have lifted olefins and derivatives prices. Ethylene has risen 4 cts/lb since the beginning of the year; producers expect June contracts to rise [...]

North american chlor-alkali sellers say a $30/ton increase on second- quarter chlorine contracts has largely failed. Some merchants say they have passed a portion of the increase on to customers, [...]

U.S. polyvinyl chloride (pvc) producers have pushed through a 2-cts/lb price hike for April. The increase has raised producers' expectations for another 2-cts/lb initiative for May. PVC makers have increased [...]

As petrochemical prices languish at or near their cyclical trough, producers are looking to mergers, acquisitions, and alliances to prune costs and cultivate margins. The key, they say, is to [...]

Oxychem announced last week that it was raising chlorine prices by $30/ton effective immediately for spot customers and as contracts permit, in an effort to bolster chlor-alkali margins. While industry [...]

Price increase initiatives have proliferated among U.S. producers in the U.S. first quarter, but 'few of these have been even partially successful,' says Rob Harvan, senior analyst at Bonner & [...]

Ethylene prices have sunk from 27.25 cts/lb in mid-1997 to 16.25 cts/lb, due to sagging demand, the Asian crisis, and a glut of new capacity. Now North American producers face [...]

Chlor-alkali producers in the Pacific Northwest say Weyerhaeuser's decision to end production at Longview, WA will firm up sagging markets for chlorine and caustic soda in the region. Pioneer-which operates [...]

Renewed demand for commodity plastics has helped firm prices throughout Asia/Pacific for October and November. Prices, which had fallen to record lows earlier this year, have risen because of demand [...]

Unplanned outages have sent U.S. Benzene prices higher in recent weeks. The increase showed up first on the spot market in late October, when prices rose to 79 cts-80 cts/gal. [...]