VAM contracts in Europe on April 4 at €1,200-€1,600/tonne free delivered northwest Europe while March contract prices were at €985-€1,105/tonne free delivered northwest Europe; some buyers will likely switch to alternative products

Elyse Blye

LONDON , May 9, 2014 (ICIS Chemical Business (CBNB Abstracts)) – Apr vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) contracts in Europe have been indicated at EUR 1200s -1600s/tonne free delivered (FD) northwest Europe (NWE) on 4 Apr 2014. Mar contract prices were at EUR 985-1105/tonne FD NWE. Buyers in some sectors will likely switch to alternative products such as n-butanol (NBA), said one source. According to ICIS assessment, spot prices dropped by EUR 100-120/tonne and are in the range of EUR 1400-1720/tonne FD NWE the week ended 4 Apr. During the same week, no spot deals were heard done in Asia for shipment to Europe although VAM was offered at $1400/tonne FOB China, $1700/tonne FOB northeast Asia and $2000/tonne FOB (free on board) southeast Asia. One producer has indicated its Apr contracts at EUR 1400-1450/tonne FD NWE, an increase of EUR 400/tonne from Mar. Another producer said that all of its Apr contracts have been settled at EUR 1580-1650/tonne FD NWE. A buyer has agreed to buy Apr contracts at around EUR 1250/tonne FD NWE, a EUR 250/tonne increase from Mar. A second buyer had settled its Apr contracts at EUR 1400/tonne FD NWE, while other buyers were concluding their contracts at EUR 1500-1600/tonne FD. One contractual supplier plans to implement increases of EUR 300-350/tonne for Apr, while another is targeting increases of about EUR 200/tonne. In the spot market, prices have dropped due to the arrival of numerous Asian iso-tanks. One buyer had bought VAM for Apr delivery at about EUR 1550/tonne FD the prior week, and had been offered material at EUR 1400s/tonne FD for May delivery the week ended 4 Apr. Another spot buyer indicated prices at EUR 1400-1590/tonne FD for Apr delivery. One spot re-seller said it had sold tonnes at EUR 1680/tonne FD the week ended 4 Apr. Chinese iso-tanks are offered at EUR 1400s/tonne FD. A second re-seller indicated spot prices at EUR 1600-1720/tonne FD.

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