Jersey City, NJ, Sept. 20 - With the cost of a key constituent of fluxes rising sharply, Cookson Electronics Assembly Materials will hike prices for IPA-based fluxes.

Come November, Cookson will raise IPA flux prices 70 cents per gallon, in response to the volatility of petrochemical prices on the world market. The company said that isopropyl alcohol prices have risen 78% since June 2003

"Faced with this significant rise in petrochemical-based solvent prices, we were forced to announce this limited price increase on alcohol-based flux products," said Mitch Holtzer, global product manager-flux products.

Cookson said the decision would not affect pricing for its water-based VOC-free flux line.