European monoethylene glycol prices are climbing as a rise in Asian prices has attracted material from Europe, sources said.
MEG FCA NWE was pegged at Eur640/mt ($675/mt) this week, compared to last Friday's assessment of Eur620/mt. Europe's weekly assessments are published on Fridays.
"[The] European rise is due to Asian prices rising, the arbitrage was open and people took the chance to move material away from Europe, which caused the European market to tighten, forcing prices up," said one distributor Thursday.
Asian prices were assessed Thursday at $731/mt CFR China, up from last week's assessment of $725/mt CFR China.
Asia's rise also buoyed US prices, which hit a seven-month high Wednesday at $672-$694/mt FOB USG.
The rise in European MEG was due solely to the arbitrage to Asia as downstream antifreeze demand was slow and feedstock ethylene's price is under pressure.
Platts ethylene indicator showed the December contract price at Eur924/mt Wednesday, compared with the November industry CP of Eur970/mt.
