LAS Prices Resilient Despite Low Demand

Gordon Graff -- Purchasing, 12/2/2009 1:58:26 PM

Despite a decline in demand, prices for surfactant linear alkylbenzene sulfonate have remained stubbornly higher than other chemicals, steadily increasing off a cyclical bottom in April. Prices did dip in November, however.

Overall business conditions in the surfactants market were "chronically depressed" during the first half of 2009, says Neil Burns, managing partner at Neil A. Burns a private equity firm that invests in specialty chemical companies. While activity began to recover in the second half of the year, he notes, total demand for surfactants in 2009 will be "significantly below that of 2008 in volumes, revenues and profitability."

Considering how much demand retreated, prices of surfactants have been fairly resilient. For example, according to Purchasingdata.com, tags for LAS hit a high point of $1.03/lb. in July 2008, slid to a low of 89¢/lb in April, and had bounced back to 97¢/lb by September.

quoted from: Purchasing.com