BASF reacts to REACh proposals
It looks as though discussions in
These comments come just a week after the start of the European Economic and Social Committee started its hearing into industries’ concerns over the new legislation. The European Tanners Association COTANCE argued that the legislation was too severe for an industry which uses 2,000 individual substances and over 6,000 “preparations” and which faces stiff competition from abroad.
At the same time the trade is facing an unprecedented rise in the price of chemicals for tanning with some Asian tanners complaining of price increases of 100% in the last twelve months, driven by the price of oil and the costs of materials such as phenol and naphthalene.
In line with this, BASF made a formal announcement at Tanning Tech that prices of many chemicals containing components that had faced such high rises would be raised. Price rises varied by article and depended on the content of components which had seen the largest price increases, but some would go up by 20%. These increases relate mainly to tanning agents, they said, noting that the cost of phenol has risen over 50% in the last year and is still rising.
