BASF will increase its prices for acrylic acid and acrylic esters (glacial acrylic acid; methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, n-butyl acrylate, 2-ethyl hexyl acrylate), as far as existing contracts permit. This is the company’s reaction to increasing raw material and energy costs.

The increase was effective July 1 in NAFTA (6 cts/lb), Europe/Africa/Middle East (€50 to €90 per metric ton) and South America ($80 per metric ton). In Asia, BASF already announced a price increase by $80 per metric ton effective June 21.

Acrylic acid is the main precursor in the production of superabsorbent polymers, materials which absorb many times their own weight in liquid. They are used in a wide variety of products including the manufacture of polymer dispersions contained as a functional component in adhesives, fibre binders and coatings.