Spanish caustic soda spot prices have dropped on the week due to ample supply in the Mediterranean, sources said.
A Spain-based trade source said spot prices had fallen as low as Eur400/mt on a Delivered Duty Paid [DDP] basis, down from Eur420/mt last week.
"The situation in Spain is terrible. The smaller companies, the people who buy four or five trucks per week, are the ones who are suffering. They are consuming 50% less," he said.
A producer source said pressure on prices in southern Europe had increased following a rush of imports into the region. "It's due to the fact that pricing in the Mediterranean was attractive so everyone wanted to sell there. Now, there's ample supply of caustic soda and prices are not attractive. Vessels need to be unloaded," the producer source said.
However, he added that prices had not yet reached a floor. "They've gone down but [spot] prices have not completely bottomed out."
Turkey, Spain and Italy are the main net importers of caustic soda in the Mediterranean, the Spain-based trader said.
There was no immediate information about Italian and Turkish spot caustic soda prices.
The regions exporting caustic soda into the Mediterranean currently include Northwest Europe, North Africa, the US and Saudi Arabia, the trader said.
