Dow Europe increased prices for lubricants, BASF boosted prices for polyalcohols used in synthetic lubricants, and Oxea raised prices on a variety of solvents.
Horgen, Switzerland-based Dow Europe GmbH last week said it increased prices 6 percent for all lubricants sold to the building and construction, packaging, durables and transportation industries in Europe. The price hike went into effect Feb. 15, or as contract terms allow.
In addition to lubricants, the company’s prices for acrylic additives, MBS impact modifiers and tin stabilisers also rose. “The increases are necessary due to the continued cost escalation of key raw materials used to manufacture these products,” Dow Europe stated.
BASF on Thursday outlined plans to raise prices immediately, or as contracts allow, on neopentylglycol (NPG) and trimethylolpropane (TMP) by 300 per metric ton in Europe, Africa and the Middle East; and by 10 cents per pound in the Americas. The company, headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany, will also step up prices on NPG in Asia by $250 per metric ton.
The price adjustment accounts for inadequate margins, said BASF.
Neopentylgylcol and trimethylolpropane are polyalcohols that are widely used in solvent-free coatings as well as in the production of polyurethanes, alkyd resins and synthetic lubricants.
Oberhausen, Germany-based Oxea on Thursday said that effective March 1, or as contracts allow, it would increase off-list prices on a variety of solvents – butanol, butyl acetate, propanol and propyl acetate – by 6 cents per pound in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and by $132 per metric ton in South and Central America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It will also raise the list price for for butanol in the U.S., Canada and Mexico to $1.13 per pound.
On Feb. 8 Oxea also introduced price controls on solvents effective immediately. “Due to increased demand, tightened supply and raw material shortages, effective immediately Oxea will reserve the right to monitor sales levels and apply volume restrictions as necessary,” the company stated. Oxea said it will limit sales of a variety of solvents in North, Central and South America to previously agreed target volumes. The products impacted include butyraldehyde, propanol and two types of butanol.