HOUSTON (ICIS)--BASF will seek an increase of 15-cent/lb ($331/tonne, €275/tonne) for its North American nylon 6 polymer effective 1 August or as contracts allow as a result of higher raw materials costs, a company official said on Wednesday.
Current nylon 6 injection moulding prices are assessed at $1.86-2.11/lb for unfilled bulk, $2.01-2.25/lb for unfilled package, $1.47-1.72/lb for industrial grade and $2.08-2.28/lb for reinforced 30% glass filled.
Nylon 6 prices in North America decreased in the second week of July because of soft global demand.
The price increase announcement is the result of increased costs for raw materials, the company said.
Market sources had been anticipating the increase announcement.
It surprised some sources because the demand for material has been steady in the US, but weak in other areas such as Europe and Asia.
The world price for caprolactam (capro), a feedstock for nylon 6, is down, although in the US nylon 6 producers say capro prices have been stable, to slightly down, but not to the levels seen in Asia and Europe.
However, capro’s building block, benzene, has a July contract price of $4.30/gal, which is the peak so far in 2012 and up from the June contract price of $4.11/gal. The contract price for benzene in January was $3.70/gal.
Other producers of nylon in the US include Ascend Performance Materials, DuPont, EMS-Grivory, Honeywell, Invista, NYCOA and Shaw.