Kuraray may use most of material from DuPont's vinyl VAM unit in La Porte, Texas, for its own use following company's purchase of DuPont's glass, vinyls business unit; shift could restrict VAM supplies, boost prices

Allison Oesterle

December 19, 2013 (ICIS Chemical Business (CBNB Abstracts)) – US-based DuPont has sold its glass and vinyls business unit to Japan-based Kuraray for $543 M (EUR 402 M). According to speculation, Kuraray might use most of the material from DuPont's US vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) unit in La Porte, TX, USA, for its own consumption. This would result in a reduction in supplies, which would in turn boost prices. About $30/tonne higher compared to the start of the year, US VAM spot prices stands at $930-1030/tonne as of 26 Nov 2013. The transaction came after the closures of an INEOS unit in the UK and a Celanese plant in Spain recently made headlines. The INEOS shutdown is seen as less significant owing to its excess capacity. Supported by a long-term contract, Helm will keep marketing VAM in North America for Kuraray as it has done for DuPont. Celanese, DuPont, Dow and Lyondell Basell are some of the major US VAM sellers. A graph shows spot FOB US export prices ($/tonne) of VAM from Dec 2012 to Nov 2013. Original Source: ICIS Chemical Business, http://www.icis.com/, Copyright Reed Business Information Limited 2013.

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