ChemCafé

I went yesterday to the chemical stores to get a new 2.5L bottle of acetonitrile, and I was stunned to see the price had moreless quadrupled since the last time I bought this solvent… I was aware of the world shortage of this compound, but had never so directly observed its consequences. The funny thing is, though, that this shortage (and the price increase that goes with it) is a direct consequence of the current economic slowdown: acetonitrile is obtained industrially as a byproduct during the production of acrylonitrile. The latter is used in the production of acrylic fibers and resins (plastics). Since the beginning of the economic meltdown the use of such industrial compounds has substantially decreased, thus the production of acetonitrile has also decreased. To make bad things worse, production in China was shut down before and during the Olympics, and a factory in the US was damaged by the hurricane Ike.

The good news is that people from the chemical stores told me the situation should improve this summer, but the prices will never go as low as before – there is apparently lots of money to get if you’re an acetonitrile supplier…