European VAM Stays Strong, Material Shortage and Robust Demand Drive the Price Curve

Disturbed exports from North American markets particularly USA due to supply chain disruptions caused by Texas freeze still possess ripple effect on Vinyl Acetate Monomer prices in Europe. Domestically, limited availability of raw material has been at the forefront for unforeseen production shortages.

As per a major importer of Vinyl Acetate Monomer, European markets witnessed constrained supply as several key European suppliers opted for reducing the material availability in contracts and spot markets. Container shortages partly due to COVID concerns among other reasons have further exacerbated the supply crises of raw materials and output dispatch. Price of Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) after 2^nd week of May in North Western Europe was assessed at Euro 2400 per MT FD Hamburg.

Demand has been robust on the back of sufficient consumption of downstream Polyvinyl Acetate, Polyvinyl Alcohol and Ethyl Vinyl Acetate which serves critical sectors like adhesives and paints, packaging and automobile sector, respectively.

As per ChemAnalyst, “Supply is expected to improve in H2 of Q2 as US production levels are ramping up which in turn could improve the supply of VAM in European markets. However, US producers are also securing inventories for the upcoming hurricane season to achieve domestic sustainability. Demand for VAM is expected to remain healthy as construction sector along with packaging and automobile sectors are likely to keep the consumption levels high”.