chemical Prices

Skyrocketing Natural Gas prices driven by the Russia-Ukraine war had already been surging the Petrochemical market across the globe. Weakening Asian Natural Gas sentiments and less competition for European buyers eager to displace Russian energy supplies weakened the price trend. However, the prices are still on the higher end with supply constraints. When observed on 18th April, the prices of Natural Gas surged to their peak with the price trend of USD 7.74 per MMBtu. The price of Natural Gas in China also remained sluggish due to increasing covid cases in the region resulting in port congestions and dented energy consumption. The slowing demand for Natural Gas in the Asian region also impacted its derivative market, including Methanol and Paraformaldehyde. The Natural Gas spot prices rose in most of the regions in the US market when observed from 13th April to 20th April. Due to the easing price trend compared to previous weeks, the Natural gas futures also decreased, and most of th...

  The second week of April saw prices of Propylene in the Asia Pacific region dip across most countries on the back of an ease-up in the prices of crude oil. Epichlorohydrin prices in Asia Pacific region have been on the rise throughout the month of March before seeing an eventual dip in the last week of March as prices of upstream propylene eased up by the third week of March. Downstream demand from the synthetic glycerine and Epoxy resin industries has been steady through March. Chinese ECH prices have seen a dip during the week ending 15th of April, making short gains in spot trade in the previous week. Thailand too had seen a similar trend with Aditya Birla Chemicals revising their offers upward for the month of April in expectation of higher feedstock prices as was the case in the last week of March. Spot prices, however, did not reflect the cost-push by producers as prices of Epichlorohydrin started to fall in the third week of April as the crude oil market in the prior two...

Soaring Natural Gas prices showcased a negative impact on the purchases of the Petrochemical derivative products in the Asian market. China has slashed Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) purchases as bullish global prices lessen the Natural Gas imports and pandemic situations strangle the market sentiments. Towards the end of Q1 2022, the LNG imports in China fell by 14% compared with the same quarter of the previous year. In India, the price of Natural Gas remained on the upper end where the prices were hovering around USD 7.2 per MMBtu Ex-Hazira-7.3 per MMBtu Ex-Hazira when captured on 18th April. From the starting of April month, Central Government had almost doubled the prices of Natural gas for six months in the domestic market. India had linked the prices of domestically traded Natural Gas according to the global benchmarks, including Henry Hub and Russian Gas. Inflation of product prices is more likely to boost the earnings of the Indian producers like ONGC, Oil India Ltd. and Relianc...

Rising Upstream Crude prices and their derivatives, the ongoing geopolitical tension disrupting the trade, and the increasing demand from the end-use industries have resulted in a rise in the Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) prices in the global market. China is the major exporter of Isopropyl Alcohol in the global market. The disruption caused to the Chinese ports due to the resurgence of COVID has led to a delay in the trade, which resulted in upward trajectory movement in the Isopropyl Alcohol market. Moreover, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has caused a spike in crude and natural gas costs, which has impacted raw materials like acetone and propylene, further affecting Isopropyl Alcohol values. According to the ChemAnalyst data, the price of Isopropyl Alcohol in China settled at USD 1155 per MT on the week ending 8th April. Isopropyl Alcohol with 70% concentration is highly used in the production of common alcohol swabs and wipes. Also, it is widely used in downstream cosmetics, paints, and sa...

Ethanol prices have shown buoyancy and were observed at $870/Mt, FOB California, USA, on 8th April following the increasing feed, corn, and sugarcane prices. Apart from its applications in food, pharmaceuticals, personal, and healthcare, Ethanol has also shown its use as biofuel. These factors have positively impacted the demand for Ethanol in the global market. Ethanol is manufactured by fermentation of molasses obtained from corn and sugarcane. The prices of corn and sugarcane burned up, showcasing its proportional effects on the prices of Ethanol. Ethanol manufacturers faced turmoil in India because of the oil marketing company (OMCs) policy. According to the manufacturers, production of Ethanol has been hampered due to a lack of financial support from the government. Furthermore, the manufacturers believe that the policy does not support major Ethanol producing states which have pressured them to increase the production cost, showing its direct effects on the prices of Ethanol. Fu...

When Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th Feb and created extreme price trend variation of LPG across the globe, Russia was also being accused of intentional disruption of gas supply for months to leverage its role as the highest gas exporter to Europe during an escalating dispute with Ukraine. The aftershock of the high price of LPG was different in various regions. Europe suffered the most due to its high dependency on Russian oil and its increased reliance on LPG for Energy. Meanwhile, the cost of living for the African populous was also highly impacted as their cooking gas price rose by 50%. As the whole world is desperate to find alternate oil sources, Europe is eyeing Africa to meet its oil needs. However, Africa cannot produce 380 million cubic meters of LPG on average per day, which is the amount Europe is receiving from Russia. In 2019, Nigeria exported over two million barrels of natural gas to the international market. Still, they are nowhere near to the production capacity of th...