Eastman Chemical Company announced a global price increase for automotive grade polyvinyl butyral (PVB) interlayers effective January 1, 2014 or as contracts allow. Price increase announcements for Saflex automotive PVB grades on a square meter, 30g or 0.76mm basis are as follows:
• 0.15 Euro/sm in Europe, Middle East, and Africa;
• 0.25 USD/sm in North America;
• 0.40 USD/sm in Asia and South America;
• 0.10 USD/sm surcharge in Asia, North America and South America for 250m refrigerated rolls of automotive PVB (clear, gradient, and acoustic; 30-33ga); and
• 0.10 Euro/sm surcharge in Europe, Middle East, and Africa for 250m refrigerated rolls of automotive PVB (clear, gradient, and acoustic; 30-33ga).
According to the announcement, the increases are due to strong market demand and are necessary to reinvest in facilities and services that help Eastman maintain continuous and reliable supply.
"There's been a faster than expected rebound in South America this year and strong growth in the U.S. and China. In addition, the European market is showing the first signs of improvement since the recession," says Phil Begley, global commercial director for Advanced Materials – Interlayers at Eastman. "We're committed to meeting this accelerated demand and will continue to invest in our global facilities to improve our capabilities."
