Ethoxylates pressured on feedstock costs and thin margins. (Markets: Cosmetics & Detergents).

Chemical Market Reporter, October, 2002 by Guzman, Doris de

MARGIN WOES continue to afflict producers of detergent ingredients, and rising raw material costs are making the situation worse. In the US ethoxylates market, some producers upped their prices during the third quarter, hoping to alleviate some of the pressure caused by eroding margins over the last 18 to 24 months. Other producers did not follow suit, claiming the need to increase prices was not supported by the market at the time.

Dow Chemical Company, BASF Corp. and Huntsman Corp. are among those that announced price increases for ethoxylates in July. Dow increased its North American off-list prices for select specialty alcohol ethoxylate (AE) surfactants by 2 cents per pound and its commodity nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs) by 3 cents to 4 cents per...

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