MOSCOW (MRC) -- Rohm (Darmstadt, Germany) says it has increased prices for its polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) products in Europe due to a “sharp rise in raw material costs,” according to Chemweek.
The price hike of EUR0.15/kilogram (USD0.18) applies to all deliveries from 1 January 2021 onwards, it says.
The increase is for Rohm’s PMMA semi-finished products sold under its Plexiglas and Deglas brands. The price of the company’s solvent-based Acrifix brand of adhesives has also been raised by 5%.
Rohm put methyl methacrylate (MMA) and all its other methacrylate monomer products in Europe on sales control in January due to a shortage of raw materials. The MMA market became increasingly tight during the latter part of 2020, with rising prices in Europe and Asia on strong end-user demand for applications such as coatings, construction, and healthcare, combined with limited availability due to production and supply issues.
As MRC reported earlier, Rohm plans to carry out a scheduled turnaround in September 2021 of its methacrylate monomers plant at Worms, Germany. No specific date or duration for the planned maintenance program has been given. The company announced in early January a series of scheduled shutdowns for four of its methyl methacrylate (MMA) and methacrylate monomer facilities in the first half of 2021, including one planned for 10–22 March also at its Worms plant. The other plants planned for turnaround in the first six months of the year are in Wesseling, Germany; Shanghai, China; and Fortier, Louisiana.
The principal application, consuming approximately 75% of the MMA, is the manufacture of polymethyl methacrylate acrylic plastics (PMMA). Methyl methacrylate is also used for the production of the co-polymer methyl methacrylate-butadiene-styrene (MBS), used as a modifier for polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
According to MRC's DataScope report, last month's SPVC imports to Russia dropped to 0,600 tonnes from 1,600 tonnes in November. High PVC prices in foreign markets and a seasonal decline in demand in the last two months have put serious pressure on import purchases of PVC from Russian companies. Thus, overall imports were 40,800 tonnes in January-December 2020, compared to 50,900 tonnes a year earlier, with PVC from China and the United States accounting for the main reduction in imports. PVC shipments from these countries decreased by almost a third over the stated period.
MRC