The Northwest European monoethylene glycol spot price rose Eur40/mt on the week Friday to a nine-week high of Eur690/mt ($756/mt) FCA NWE, on limited availability.
“Supply is…tight due to a combination of factors — shortage of domestic production in combination with a shortage of imports because of different reasons,” a production source said.
Prices have risen 16.95% since Jan 29, when they were assessed at Eur590/mt FCA NWE, the lowest point in the year so far.
Prices have now surpassed the level at which they started 2016, Eur675/mt FCA NWE.
Global availability has been tight. In Asia, supply to customers from ME Global is likely to remain limited for an unspecified period of time due to a continuing feedstock shortage at the company’s glycol plants in Kuwait.
In the US, Indorama issued a force majeure declaration on production from its ethylene oxide and MEG plant at Clear Lake, Texas. EO is a feedstock for MEG.
The European contract price for March settled at Eur711/mt on February 29, a Eur11/mt increase on the February CP.
Producers said the settlement was too low.
The full settlement was between seller BASF and buyer Arteco, BASF confirmed. The initial settlement was between seller ME Global and buyer Indorama, both parties confirmed.
