Talk about “March Madness” prime Caprolactam (CPL) reaches $3520-$3560/MT in China

The price of prime Caprolactam (CPL) is now trading above $3500/MT delivered in the Asian market. This is a historically high price for prime CPL that is being driven by Broker/Traders speculating on continued price increases for the product. The contract price for prime CPL settled in between $3520 – $3560/MT ($1.597-$1.615/lb.) for the month of March, 2011. We feel this price increase is still being driven in China by the Traders/Brokers, because we do not see enough demand in the Asian PA6 market to support the latest CPL price increase. Our big concern at this time is that we are starting to see the factories in China starting to slow down again, as they did in early 2008 before the correction that started in October of that year.

Another factor that is going to affect the Nylon 6 market in the short run is the disaster in Japan. Japan produces about 25% of the CPL that is sold in Taiwan, and 13-15% of the CPL that is sold in China. The plants in Japan are down at this time due to disruptions in the supply chain, a lack of power to run the plants, and delays in their transportation system. In the short run this means that prime CPL prices will most likely go up again in April, and may even reach the $3700/MT ($1.678/lb.) price level. This is not good news, because at some price point in time the manufacturers around the world will stop buying Nylon 6 until they start to see some price softening. The Japanese CPL supply disruption may only be a 60-90 day scenario, but it is going to have a drastic impact on the price of prime Nylon 6 in the short run.

At this point I do not see the price of Nylon 6 softening in Q2 2011 as I have previously mentioned. Based on the March contract price for CPL large buyers of prime Nylon 6 are now paying somewhere north of $1.50/lb. for material in the USA. It costs the average PA6 producer around $.08-$.10/lb. to polymerize the CPL and make pellets, so your guess is a good as mine as to where Nylon 6 prices will go in April / May if CPL increases to $3700/MT. We are actually buying all of the WS PA6 that we can at this time, because we think prices will only increase again in April due to the for mentioned crisis in Japan.

The Nylon 66 market still shows no signs of softening at this time as well. Both of the domestic PA66 producers are sold out, and material feedstock prices only seem to keep going up. The price of Butadiene has gone through the roof due to tight world supply, which may lead to another round of price increase in the secondary PA66 market. Get ready guys inflation is at our front door and starting to show its ugly face, which will only have a negative impact on our already fragile US economy.

The Acrylic (PMMA) market has started to stabilize somewhat in the USA, and scrap prices may actually stay flat for 30-60 days. Depending on what the price of Acetone does in the domestic market it will determine if we see the price of MMA / PMMA increase in the short run.

Dualloy currently has the following Nylon (PA6) and Nylon 66 (PA 66 materials for sale:

Nylon 66 Bright w/HS Pellets

Nylon 66 Semi Dull Wide Spec Pellets

Nylon 66 Dull Second Quality Pellets

Nylon 66 Textile Bright Pellets

Nylon 66 Pellets w/ up to 0.02% TiO2

Nylon 66 Mixed Color Regrind

Nylon 66 Bright Regrinds

Nylon 66 Semi Dull / Mixed Luster Regrind

Nylon 6 Nat w/HS– Wide spec (off-grade) Pellets

Low to medium viscosity, 5% monomer, heat stabilized. The material has moisture issues, and it might have a few black specs and bad cut pellets. The material is in unsealed poly liners.

Prime Nylon 6 Pellets 2.7 RV – Natural

Packaged in 1,500# boxes

Dualloy sells the following types of low end Caprolactam / Nylon 6 waste.

Nylon 6 Kettle Bottoms

Nylon 6 Depoly Residue

Nylon 6 Solidified Oligomer Waste

Call for MOQ and current material prices.

Dualloy purchases/sells plastic resin and polymers in the following forms.

Aged/Obsolete Virgin Pellets

Wide-Specification Pellets

Clean uniform Plastic Regrinds

Reactor Lumps/Chunks/Patties

Nylon Fiber Bales

Please feel free to contact me at: JamesGubera@dualloy.com

This entry was posted in Acrylic, Caprolactam, Nylon 6, Nylon 66, PA 66, PA6, PMMA. Bookmark the permalink.

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