Spot acrylonitrile prices in Europe lost $90/mt this week as the market remained under pressure from low demand and easing feedstock costs, sources said.
Buyers and sellers were in stalemate this week with disparate price views. A producer was heard offering at $2,550/mt CIF Med, way below his reported deals of over $2,700/mt in June.
But most sources argued that this level no longer reflected the current market, with sell and buy ideas all below $2,500/mt.
A fiber producer said $2,450/mt could be "reasonable" at the moment, but he was convinced that he could get cheaper material as July progressed.
"We'll just buy what we need [in July]. It's possible that we can find lower prices in August," he said.
Several traders felt the market could be anywhere between $2,400/mt and $2,450/mt, though they admitted they have yet to test whether buyers would be interested in these levels.
"I don't expect things to change in July. July seemed to be a done deal," a trader said, adding no one was heard in a rush to secure prompt supply during a seasonally slow July-August period.
Consumers agreed that buying interest will be weak for the rest of July, with hesitation likely to persist until the market found its bottom.
A trader claimed to have sold a cargo of around 4,000 mt to Asia at around $2,430/mt CFR. This could not be confirmed.
"The market is overflowing so we have to move some product (out of Europe)," he said.
An ACN producer confirmed it had to reduce production capacity "marginally" to adjust to current demand.
Spot prices were assessed $90/mt lower this week at $2,400-2,410/mt CIF Med, a five-month low, Platts data showed.
