BASF has shut down its TDI plant in Germany as Rhine water has dropped down significantly. Water levels on the Rhine have reached an “all-time low”, the company said, after months of transportation difficulties along the key chemicals logistics artery.
There has been significant decline in Toluene prices in last one week on back of decline in crude values. With stop in the production by BASF, offers for European-origin TDI jumped by $100/tonne to buyers in the GCC. But the move was not followed by other major TDI suppliers in Asia which mostly kept their offer levels on hold and waited for a clearer indication of the full market impact. TDI prices in the GCC have been on a downtrend since the end of the first quarter, a move that was believed to have been accelerated when BASF announced the restart of that same Ludwigshafen plant in July.
