Vinyl acetate monomer prices soar
Celanese, Dow Chemical, DuPont and Lyondell declare force majeure
By Tom Stundza -- Purchasing, 9/12/2007 2:27:00 PM
Buyers of vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) have been able to source the material they need, but ICISnews.com says supplies remain “extremely tight” since all four U.S. producers—Celanese, Dow Chemical, DuPont and Lyondell—now are on force majeure. Some buyers have seen spot prices soar to 88¢, as compared with Purchasingdata.com’s average of 81¢ in August. And now, Celanese has announced an October list price of $1/lb for the building-block chemical.
The supply problems began when Dow declared force majeure in August due to essential maintenance of critical plant equipment required at the Texas City, Texas, plant of subsidiary Union Carbide. Then, Lyondell’s LaPorte plant in Texas was flooded by Hurricane Erin, Celanese had lengthy production woes at its acetic acid plant in Clear Lake, Texas, and DuPont has had “production issues” at its LaPorte facility.
VAM is made by blending acetic acid, ethylene and oxygen. It is a key ingredient in emulsion polymers, resins, and intermediates used in paints, adhesives, coatings, textiles, wire and cable polyethylene compounds, laminated safety glass, packaging, automotive plastic fuel tanks, and acrylic fibers. Market sources tell ICISnews.com that producers’ VAM inventories at terminals have been depleted by the recent tight market condition, and supply lines have lengthened by the need to ship directly from the plant to the customer.
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