Dow Chemical and Oxea each announced price hikes last week for a variety of solvents.
Midland, Mich.-based Dow announced March 3 it would raise prices in North America for products in its oxygenated solvents portfolio by 4 cents to 5 cents per pound effective April 1, or as contracts allow, to address continued escalation in raw material costs.
The recent escalation in hydrocarbon costs has caused the gap between price and cost to narrow significantly, said Martin Sutcliffe, Dows global business director, glycol ethers. Given the current market conditions, we have no choice but to fully implement this price increase.
Our margins have continued to decline and are currently at unacceptable levels, said Mark Bassett, Dows global business director, solvents and intermediates. We must improve our margins, so we can afford to compete for raw materials and make the products our customers need.
Oberhausen, Germany-based Oxea on March 4 said that effective April 1, or as contracts allow, it would increase off-list prices on a variety of solvents – butanol, butyl acetate, propanol and propyl acetate – by 4 cents to 5 cents per pound in the United States, Canada and Mexico; by $88 per metric ton to $110/mt in South and Central America; and by $88/mt to $100/mt in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.