Celanese Corporation announced a hike of 5 cents/lb for its North American vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) prices effective May 1 or as contracts allow, the company said in a letter sent to its customers Tuesday.
The company also increased its VAM contract prices for May in Central and South America to $1,110/mt.
According to company sources, the hike was based on tight supply and price increases on feedstock ethylene and ethane.
In the last month, US VAM prices have been escalating above $1,100/mt FOB USG levels due to supply shortage after LyondellBasell's 36,000 mt/year VAM plant in La Porte, Texas, was declared in force majeure last March.
Additionally, reports of an unplanned outage at Celanese's 300,000 mt/year VAM plant in Nanjing, China, also put pressure in VAM global prices.
