The US acrylonitrile export assessment rose $25/mt week over week Tuesday to a more than 11-month high of $1,940/mt FOB US Gulf Coast on continued tight supply.
The assessment reached its highest level since March 5, 2013, when it was at the same level, according to Platts data.
A deal was heard done last week for 2,000 mt at $1,915/mt FOB USG for February, and another 2,000 mt parcel was heard sold but pricing on the parcel was unavailable. An offer was heard in the market at $1,965/mt FOB USG, against no bids.
The rise in price was strictly due to tighter supply in the market, sources said, as feedstock chemical-grade propylene was heard settling 1 cent/lb lower for February.
Supply is expected to remain tight as Ascend Performance Materials has scheduled maintenance on two acrylonitrile units at its Chocolate Bayou, Texas, facility starting in February and March, a company source said Monday.
Ascend will take down its AN 3 unit in February for a week to 10 days and then will take its AN 2 unit down for three to four weeks in March, the source said. The Chocolate Bayou facility has an estimated production capacity of 1 billion lbs/year of acrylonitrile.
Along with that maintenance, most producers have been running reduced because of weak margins throughout the last half of last year and the beginning of this year, sources said.
Ineos Nitriles temporarily reduced output at its Green Lake, Texas, ACN plant by 50% as of January 1 because of weak margins, the company had said in mid-December.
