Rohm and Haas recently announced a price increase for specialty amines used in lubricant additives, while Dow announced a rise in price for hydraulic fluids and certain oxygenated solvents, and Oxea raised off-list prices for several solvents. Dow and Rohm and Haas cited skyrocketing raw material costs as a key reason for the price hikes.
Rohm and Haas Co. on Oct. 30 said it would increase prices by 4 to 14 percent effective Nov. 15 for select products in its Primene line of specialty amines, which are used as building blocks or components in lubricant additives. On Oct. 22, the company had announced it would seek price increases of 5 to 15 percent for most of its chemical products effective Nov. 1. Persistently high raw material costs, along with continued increases in energy and freight costs, brought about the need for the price increases, according to Philadelphia-based Rohm and Haas.
The companys other chemical products include Kathon brand metalworking fluid microbiocides and fungicides.
The costs of key raw materials – such as propylene, ethylene, methanol, as well as other raw materials like tin – have remained persistently high, said Pierre Brondreau, Rohm and Haas executive vice president in charge of specialty materials. Earlier in the year, there were strong indications that raw material prices would peak around mid-year, and then trail off during the second half of 2007.
Raw material prices have defied such expectations, Brondreau said. In fact, they have continued to increase and have remained persistently high, with no real relief expected in the near future, he warned. To date, these increases have added more than $100 million to our raw material costs in total. I have directed each business segment in each geographic region to pursue the appropriate price increase with their customers, based on the escalation of raw materials and delivered costs for the products.
Midland, Mich.-based Dow Nov. 6 said it would raise list and off-list prices by 3 to 6 cents per pound on a number of its oxygenated solvents in North America effective Dec. 1, or as contracts allow. The company attributed the increase primarily to a continued rise in raw material and energy costs, along with tight supply in the raw material market.
The fundamental challenge of high and volatile raw material is something we have been managing for the last three years, said Martin Sutcliffe, global business director, glycol ethers. With key raw material costs at new record levels and challenging supply/demand dynamics, the price increases we have announced through out the fourth quarter are imperative. Back on June 1, Dow instituted a similar price increase of 3 to 5 cents on a range of oxygenated solvents in North America.
On Nov. 7, Dow announced it would also raise all off-list prices of Ucon Hydrolube fire- resistant hydraulic fluids in North America effective Dec.1, or as contracts allow. The increase is 2 cents per pound or 18 cents per gallon for all Ucon Hydrolube concentrates and thickeners; and 2 cents per pound or 18 cents per gallon for fully formulated fluids and high-pressure fluids.
Global production and logistics constraints in the raw material supply chain are driving costs up at an unprecedented rate, Dow said. This price increase is necessary to restore margins on the Ucon Hydrolube product line and maintain access to the raw materials needed to provide our valued customers with quality products and support.
Oxea on Friday announced that effective Dec. 1 or as contracts allow it would increase off-list prices on a variety of solvents – butyl acetate, butanol, propyl acetate and propanol – by 4 to 6 cents per pound in the United States, Canada and Mexico; by 88 per metric ton to 132/mt (U.S. $129 to $192) in South and Central America; and by 88/mt to 132/mt in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Also on Friday, Oxea said it would increase off-list prices on propyl acetate and propanol by 50/mt in Europe effective Dec. 1, or as contracts allow.