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Article: Cheaper oil will deflate elevated carbon black prices.
- Article from:
- Purchasing
- Article date:
- December 14, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Reed Business Information, Inc. (US). This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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By Gordon Graff
In the past year, the surging cost of crude oil has propelled the price of carbon black to record levels, but even though oil has recently retreated, tags for this widely used black pigment continue to remain stubbornly high. This has caused hardships for tire makers especially, which consume the lion's share of carbon black. But industry analysts say carbon black prices have probably peaked and may even edge downward over the next 12 months.
Manufacturers of carbon black in the U.S. have been in the retrenchment mode for the past year, mainly due to lackluster domestic sales of tires. In the last few months, such major producers as Cabot ...