European bisphenol A (BPA) contract prices for May have settled at an assessed range of €900-1,000/tonne ($1,233-1,370/tonne), up €50/tonne from the previous month. An increase in May contract pricing had largely been expected after the significant gains made in benzene values in April. One buyer conceded that the recent jump in feedstock values had seen price ideas in May move up to the mid-€900s/tonne, and expected BPA values to climb further in June. “There is also less cargo coming from Russia now because producers there have been cutting back,” the source added. “What material they do have is being pushed towards the captive polycarbonate sector or Asia. There is less BPA available on the free market.” There was also a feeling in the marketplace that supply was beginning to tighten in light of production cutbacks and significant exporting to the healthier Asian market this month. With demand from downstream sectors currently strong in Asia and supply short due to operating cutbacks in the region, there had also been less imported cargo from the region for sale in Europe. One source said that this perceived tightness had pushed up demand from the epoxy sector, as buyers did not want to get caught paying higher prices further down the line. Although demand in Europe was generally agreed to still be weak, one major supplier commented that the downstream epoxy resin sector had pushed up production rates. “There has been good customer feedback from the construction sector,” the supplier said. “It’s still not where we were this time last year, but in terms of both volume and pricing, things are definitely picking up this month.”