Although Dimethylformamide (DMF) Production Has Resumed in China, There is Still a Dearth of End-User Demand

China: After the Chinese Spring Festival break, Dimethylformamide (DMF) operations resumed, though more slowly than initially anticipated. The operational rate of the DMF market and the downstream sector rose, but sales were not as brisk as manufacturers had hoped. As a result, the current orders in the downstream market were moderate, which was worse than temporary expectations.

DMF price rose by 18.97% in a single day on Jan 31, reflecting a shift in consumers' attitude towards stocking the material. Also, the ChemAnalyst database shows that DMF prices had increased during the week ending Feb 3, 2023, post-spring holiday. After the break, production units started operating fully; thus, the cost of production was high, which further got a boost due to the increasing feedstock Dimethylamine price.

During the second week of February 2023, the cost began to decline as manufacturers of Acrylic Fiber, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, and electronics delayed demand, and the producers witnessed slow offtakes from synthetic fibers, plastics, and chemicals sectors, even after accelerated production. Thus, they were compelled to lower their margins to encourage the sale of DMF in the Chinese market, as the inventories reported were also more than the actual sales. Therefore, during the week ending Feb 10, DMF price declined by 3.3%, hovering over the price at USD 1190/MT FOB Nanjing.

Regarding the export market, China's container marine market has been poor after the Spring Festival holiday, and the recovery of transport demand has relatively declined. Most maritime routes see a decline in freight rates due to poor supply and demand. Therefore, the focus is mostly on the domestic market because of the lackluster weekly export orders.

The forecast suggests "The partial decline in the DMF prices, as demand from downstream sectors are not as healthy as producers expected. However, accelerated production led to the bulk material in the Chinese market, while offtakes remain subpar".