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7th January 2014

Epichlorohydrin
(Europe)
Editor: Editorial Europe, editorial.europe@icis.com

CONTRACT PRICES
Click for Price History Price Range One year ago US CTS/LB
FD NWE (BULK)DEC EUR/TONNE -30 1620-1640 -30 1610.00-1640.00 99.95-101.18

NOTE: for full details on the criteria ICIS pricing uses in making these price assessments visit www.icispricing.com and
click on methodology.

Europe January ECH price talks ongoing

Although major Chinese producers have kept their offers
The European epichlorohydrin (ECH) market is quiet as many unchanged at yuan (CNY) 11,500-12,000/tonne CFR CMP,

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sources still have not returned from vacation, though players
who have already returned to their desks are currently
negotiating January prices and ideas currently range from a
rollover to a 20/tonne increase, due to higher feedstock costs.
In January, the European propylene contract price settled up
20/tonne to 1,130/tonne. One ECH producer said it had
initially sought a 30/tonne increase on ECH, but did not find
any buy-side support as demand is low. It is now looking at a
20/tonne increase.
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Another ECH producer also said it would be looking for a
20/tonne increase, while a third producer said January will
probably settle at a rollover from December. Several market
sources said the market is currently fairly quiet as market
players slowly return to work and they do not expect January
price negotiations to take place in earnest until next week.
An ECH buyer said it cannot afford a price increase in January
as it has already settled its downstream prices and cannot
pass on the higher costs. Nevertheless, it plans to raise its
prices in February.
Looking ahead to February, two ECH producers indicated that
due to several months of margin erosion which have led to
significant losses, they will be seeking to sharply raise ECH
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current weak demand is unable to support soaring prices,
market players said.
China domestic prices have surged by 19% since end-
November, amid weak demand for downstream epoxy resins
in the year-end lull.
Market activity is expected to be subdued from one week
ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which falls from 31
January to 7 February in China, as most downstream Chinese
epoxy resins plants would be shut during this period, market
sources said.
Upstream
Supply in the European propylene market last week was
viewed as tight, following some strike-related stoppages, an
unplanned cracker outage in France, and a fresh focus on
lighter feedstock cracking by some producers. Demand was
better than expected as players sought alternative supplies to
cover the hiccups in supply amid a general restocking of
inventories. Additionally, unplanned supply constraints have
hampered some producers' preparations to cover upcoming
maintenances.

prices. Several players said they expect feedstock costs to rise

further in February and this could help support a sharp ECH Month Europe Propylene Contract FD NWE
price increase.
November 2013 1080/tonne
One producer said that a triple digit ECH price hike for
February may be likely as losses are running into millions of December 2013 1110/tonne
euros. Another said it plans to focus on margin recovery over January 2014 1130/tonne
market share.

Asia

China's domestic ECH spot prices are showing signs of Covering edtor: Iain Packham
stabilising as expected, after its four-week consecutive uptrend
came to a halt amid subdued trade.

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 Epichlorohydrin (Europe)

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