As a global trade war heats up, materials firm Celanese Corp. has announced price increases on several of its plastic products.
Officials with Dallas-based Celanese said in an Aug. 16 news release that the firm was raising prices on its polypropylene-based long fiber thermoplastic materials — including the Celstran brand — and on its polybutylene terephthalate and PET engineering resin compounds. Those materials are sold under the Celenex, Vandar, Impet, Pibiter, OmniTech and Compel brand names.
The price hikes are needed because of continued increases in raw material costs globally, as well as the United States Trade Representative's (USTR) implementation of a 25 percent tariff on PBT and PET products imported into the U.S. from China, officials added.
PBT and PET materials prices in the Americas were set to increase by 25 percent on Aug. 23. In Europe, prices for those materials will be up 0.13 euros, and in Asia outside China, those products will see increases of 15 cents per kilogram.
In China, prices for Celanese PP-based LFTs will be up one yen per kg. Nylon 6/6-based LFTs will see price hikes of 3 yen per kg.
Company officials said that individual grades may be subject to higher increases.
Celanese employs 7,700 worldwide and posted sales of $6.1 billion in 2017. The firm is a global leader in the acetal resin market.
