Nylon 66 and Nylon 6 prices are up in the 1st quarter of 2011

Nylon 66 (PA 66) and Nylon 6 (PA 6) prices are both up in January 2011. I think that we have reached another historic high in pricing for both products, and that both markets will remain strong through the first half of 2011. In China Caprolactam (CPL) is trading at over $3020/MT for January, while the contract price for prime CPL is in the $2940-$2960/MT range for the month. Most of the major USA PA 6 producers have announced price increases for February that will stick, as long as China comes back into the market strong after the Chinese New Year in early February. With the latest round of announced increases expect to see the price of prime Nylon 6 pellets move into the $1.40/lb. range and above for large volume buyers. The main factors driving these current increases are that the demand for both tire cord, and drawn fiber have continued to be strong in China. The Nylon 6 price will soften sometime in early 2011, because the price of CPL should be selling somewhere around $2600/MT. The current market condition is partially due to traders speculating on continued price increases in the CPL market.

The Nylon 66 market continues to be strong as well in early 2011. 2010 was a year of continuous price increases in the cost of wide-specification Nylon 66 pellets and fibers, and I think 2011 will be another year of strong demand and higher prices for the material. Both of the domestic PA 66 producers are increasing their capacity this year, but don’t look for the increased volume to cause a drop in price. Both producers are in a sold out position for the first half of 2011, so there will not be any excess capacity in this market until after mid-2011 at the earliest. Ascend has announced a $15/lb. price increase for prime PA 66, so I am sure that we will see Invista follow suit and increase their PA 66 prices as well.

I think that you will see the price of wide-specification PA 66 pellets increase as much as the price of prime pellets. Both of the domestic PA 66 producers are using more of their own scrap back into internal added valued compounding programs, which is removing large volumes of both good wide- specification pellets and baled fibers out of the secondary market. This will tighten the supply of wide- specification pellets in the USA domestic market, which will narrow the gap between the price of prime Nylon 66 and wide specification Nylon 66 pellets this year. Expect to see the price of Nylon 66 to remain firm (or higher) in the first half of 2011.

The Acrylic (PMMA) market continues to be strong in early 2011 as well. Like everything else, the price of PMMA scrap continues to increase. The latest price increase is currently being driven by the strong demand for Acetone in the Polypropylene (PP) market. As long as PP continues to sell at historic highs, expect the price of any Acetone based product to increase as well. Since you need acetone to make MMA, the backbone of Acrylic, I am sure there will be price increases announced for prime PMMA in the near future. Dualloy is currently paying over $.53/lb. in the domestic market for mixed color PMMA scrap for monomer extraction. This is the highest price that I have paid for PMMA scrap for monomer recovery since entering into the export business in 1995.

Announced Nylon 6 Price Increases:
Honeywell Jan 1st $.10/lb.
Feb 1st $.15/lb.
Marc 1st $.08/lb.
BASF Feb 1st $.08/lb.
Shaw Feb 1st $.08/lb.

Nylon 66 Price Increase:
Ascend Feb 1st $.15/lb.

Dualloy sells the following types of Nylon 6 Polymer waste.
Nylon 6 Kettle Bottoms
Nylon 6 Depoly Residue
Nylon 6 Solidified Oligomer Waste
Nylon 6 Washwater
Nylon 6 Washwater/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

Dualloy has the following Nylon materials available for sale:
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

Prime Nylon 6 Pellets 2.7 RV - Natural
Packaged in 1,500# boxes

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