BASF to increase price of acrylic monomers

BASF is to further increase prices for acrylic monomers. In a detailed price review, BASF has announced it will increase prices of acrylic acid and acrylic esters (glacial acrylic acid; methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, n-butyl acrylate, 2-ethyl hexyl acrylate), as contracts permit. The amount and timing of the price increases will vary by region.

These increases affect the pricing of a number of paper chemicals where acrylic monomers are used as raw materials: superabsorbent polymers; acrylate-based dispersions; polymer dispersions/emulsions used as coating binders, adhesives, synthetic strength additives and retention aids.

Eka Chemicals acquire silica sol business

Eka Chemicals, Akzo Nobel's pulp and paper chemicals business, has announced the signing of an agreement to acquire the silica sol business of HC Starck Group (Leverkusen, Germany).

Under the brand name Levasil, HC Starck supplies colloidal silica sols to markets mainly in Europe and South East Asia. The production capacity is around 30,000 tons a year. Silica sols are used in industries which include paper, electronics and construction. Specifically, silica sols are used successfully in Eka's retention aid systems marketed unr the name of Compozil.

Subject to regulatory approvals, the acquisition is expected to be completed no later than the third quarter of 2008.

Cargill and Novozymes join forces to generate acrylic acid from readily-available sugars

It was announced today that Cargill and Novozymes will jointly develop technology to produce acrylic acid using the fermentation of a renewable resource (glucose or other readily-available carbohydrate sources). The project is supported by $1.5 mio matching funds from the US Department of Energy.

The work involves the fermentation of sugar in the presence of a bio-engineered micro-organism to produce 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HPA). The 3-HPA can then be converted into a range of valuable chemicals including acrylic acid, which is a valuable, high volume chemical used in plastics, fiber, coatings, paints, inks and super-absorbent diapers (disposable nappies). In paper chemicals it finds use in water soluble polymers, flocculants, retention aids, coating binders etc

Currently, most acrylic acid is produced in the petrochemical industry by oxidation of propylene, a C-3 fraction from the refining of crude oil. More than half of the produced acrylic acid is used to make glacial acrylic acid for superabsorbents used in products such as diapers. This new approach from Cargill and Novozymes will not rely on crude oil but will move into the hotly debated area of using what is potentially a food source to generate chemicals (using food materials to generate bio-fuels is where most of the current debate exists as although it is an option to move away from the reliance on non-renewable crude oil, there has been an impact on world food prices).

BASF raise prices for ethyleneimines

Immediately, or as contracts allow, BASF is raising its prices for ethyleneamines globally as following:

100 EUR/to for ethylenediamine (EDA)
50 EUR/to for aminoethylethanolamine (AEEA)
50 EUR/to for diethylenetriamine (DETA)
50 EUR/to for piperazine
50 EUR/to for AMIX 1000

Details are given on the BASF web site.