Petrochemicals major Dow Chemical will increase caustic soda contract prices by Eur50/mt ($67/mt) effective January 1 2012, a company source told Platts Tuesday.
The Q4 contract price was Eur465/mt FD NWE.
Caustic soda demand continues to hold while supplies continue tightening in tandem with reduced co-product chlorine operation rates.
"The market continues [to be] very tight and we are getting a lot of nontraditional requests for caustic," the source said, adding "operating rates seem to be under further pressure while [polyvinyl chloride] is really bad."
The source also said that in Europe, Arkema's force majeure also contributed to the target increase decision while fundamentals also reflected a bullish sentiment in the caustic soda market worldwide.
