Asian Phenol Market Stabilizing with Cost Side Support and Bearish Demand

The Asian market is seeing a fixed Phenol price trend this week. Even though, the demand from the end-use industries remained sluggish and the upstream cost side support has been strong, kept the pricing trajectory staggered within a rangebound. Additionally, the raw materials prices are also affecting Phenol price.

As China is a major importer of Phenol in the Asia Pacific region, the unprecedented resurgence of COVID in Beijing, led to the reimposition of lockdown restrictions in Shanghai and Beijing since Thursday. The resumed lockdown is affecting the buying sentiments of local market. Due to the poor purchasing and selling activities, increased Phenol volumes have been stockpiled; thus, the stockholders were unable to increase their offer resulting in the constant price trend.

Amid the sanctions on Russian Crude oil import, India was importing around 5.6% of oil from Russia in May. The increasing import of the upstream crude has been suppressed the rising demand in the nation. The sufficient availability of upstream crude and its wavering price influenced Phenol's feedstock benzene and cumene market. As a result, according to the ChemAnalyst database, the price of Phenol in the Indian market settled at approximately INR 147450 per Metric tonne on 23rd June.

The bearish demand from the regional markets resulted in the low exports from Japan. However, because the export charges are high, and the cost side is well supported, the demand from the terminal end dropped. Hence, the downstream derivative phenolic resin and Bisphenol A manufacturers slowed their production activities. Thus, the above-mentioned scenario ushered in the firm Phenol pricing.

As per the ChemAnalyst, "The Phenol prices are expected to grow in the coming weeks. China's COVID cases might ease the lockdown from Shanghai and Beijing. This ease might result in healthy buying activities in the domestic market, which could trigger Phenol pricing. High exporting actions from Japan have been expected if the demand rises. Furthermore, the upstream demand may increase, further inflicting the downstream pricing."