Amidst Limited Input Availability, the Calcium Carbonate Price Trend Intensify in February 2023

New Delhi, India: The prices of Calcium Carbonate have been consistently rising since the start of February 2023. The seasonal uptick in demand and the tight supplies of key input raw materials has played a crucial factor in determining the pricing dynamics of Calcium Carbonate across the regional markets. In the European region, the housing market is being negatively impacted by rising energy and inflation costs, which have accelerated the price growth of upstream raw materials like Calcium Carbonate.

In the Indian domestic market, India's infrastructure-led investments, mass residential projects, and broad-based economic growth have kept the demand from the downstream cement market solid, strengthening the market sentiments for Calcium Carbonate. The ChemAnalyst database has demonstrated an increment of approximately 9% in the ex-factory prices of Calcium Carbobate in the week ending 17th February. Furthermore, as per market sources, Reliance Industries has stopped selling Petroleum Coke within India and increased imports of the product to convert it into a synthetic gas that will power its refineries. Since Reliance no longer produces Petroleum Coke domestically, India's imports, which more than doubled last year, will probably rise due to increased demand from downstream cement manufacturers, who use Petroleum Coke to make the building material.

Furthermore, According to Federal Statistics Office, due to delivery bottlenecks, material shortages, and higher energy prices, nearly all building materials, including Calcium Carbonate, have been rising considerably in the German market. Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank, emphasized last week that the central bank will raise interest rates by another half-point next month, with prices of several key commodities in the region remaining high. On the other hand, the tepid demand from the downstream food and additive sector has pressured the market fundamentals of Calcium Carbonate in the USA, and the prices have fallen in the third week of February 2023.

According to the pricing intelligence of ChemAnalyst, strong demand is likely to lead to incremental sales of Calcium Carbonate in the Indian market. The growth momentum is anticipated to continue in the forthcoming weeks. However, the buoyancy in the Calcium Carbonate prices in the European region will be attributed to tight monetary policies and volatile production costs.