Platts opens consultation on European hydrocarbon solvents market coverage

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, is opening a consultation on its coverage of the European hydrocarbon solvents market and welcomes market feedback on how best to reflect this evolving space.

Platts recognizes that the impending implementation of the European Commission's regulation on the classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures on Nov. 23, 2023, has seen market participants in the European hydrocarbon solvents market increasingly opt for solvent naphtha, white spirit and solvent mixed xylenes with a lower cumene content -- typically below a 0.10% percentage weight.

The Commission's regulation will see products with a percentage weight of cumene above 0.10% labelled with the below hazard codes:

H226 -- Flammable liquid and vapor.

H350 -- May cause cancer <state route of exposure if it is conclusively proven that no other routes of exposure cause the hazard>.

H304 -- May be fatal if swallowed and enters airways.

H335 -- May cause respiratory irritation.

H411 -- Toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects.

Platts is considering the following options:

• Launching new low-cumene assessments for mixed xylenes, solvent naphtha and white spirit, with an additional assessment for dearomatized white spirit, alongside existing assessments, which would continue to reflect product with a high cumene content.
• Specifying cumene content for the existing MX, solvent naphtha and white spirit assessments.

Platts is specifically inviting feedback on:

• The maximum cumene content desired for solvent naphtha, solvent-MX and white spirit in the context of the European Commission's regulation.
• Whether any new assessments should reflect similar specifications already assessed by Platts (see below).
• Whether the export market would also receive low-cumene product, or whether it be restricted to domestic European market supply.
• Whether producers will produce both high and low-cumene product and store these products separately in different tanks, or whether production will transition to low-cumene content product only.
• Whether dearomatized white spirit with a flashpoint of 60 (D60) or D40 would be a direct or useful equivalent to standard white spirit prices.

Platts first began publishing European hydrocarbon solvents prices in 1994.

Under the current methodology, Platts does not specify a cumene content for solvent naphtha, white spirit or solvent-MX and assesses in line with the below specifications:

• Solvent naphtha: Minimum density of 0.870 g/ml at 15 degrees Celsius, minimum total aromatics content is 99% and maximum water content is 0.03%.
• Solvent xylene: Product must conform to ASTM D-843 with one or more isomers removed.
• White spirit: Minimum density of 0.770 g/ml at 15 degrees Celsius, minimum aromatics content of 15% and a distillation range of 145-200 degrees Celsius.

Please send all feedback, comments, and questions by Oct. 4, 2023, to petchems@spglobal.com with a copy to pricegroup@spglobal.com. For written comments, please provide a clear indication if comments are not intended for publication by Platts for public viewing.

Platts will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.