Russian carbon black ban to cause “significant disruptions”

Haltern am See, Germany – German carbon black distributor PentaCarbon expects to see “significant disruptions” in the market due to an EU ban on imports of Russian carbon black from 1 July*.

The ban is part of the EU's 10th package of sanctions against Russia in response to the Putin regime’s war on Ukraine.

“The significant disruption to the carbon black market will be challenging to make up for as 40% of Europe’s total carbon black capacity comes from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus,” said PentaCarbon.

The ban may also result in “global market shortages, and as a result, prices for importing countries are expected to rise,” said the distributor in a recent online article.

The distributor said it will stop imports from Russia on 30 June, noting that suppliers and customers will be forced to seek alternatives due to the ban.

“The changing market will force companies to review their supply-chain strategy more deeply," according to PentaCarbon.

Furthermore, purchasers will have to forecast demands in close collaboration with suppliers as lead times will be "much longer," the company added.

PentaCarbon said it has expanded its portfolio with non-Russian alternatives and was ‘positively looking forward’ to its collaborations with customers “despite all the challenging aspects.”

*See also ERJ News Analysis: What next for EU carbon black market?