As of H2 Dec 2025, the Asian Stearic Acid Market has maintained stability at upper levels, benefiting from sound cost side fundamentals and regional producers managing their supply in a cautious manner. Observations made by market participants indicate that prices for Stearic Acid have not changed significantly, and suppliers have demonstrated little interest in changing their price offers, even though spot trading sentiment is quiet throughout the vegetable oils sector.
From the feedstock front in the South Malaysian market, palm oil production dropped by 9.12% during the period December 1–25, 2025 when compared to the previous period of production. The Malaysian Palm Oil Association noted a 7.44% month to month decline in the volume of palm oil produced from December 1 to December 20 in 2025. These short-term supply constraints provided little relief on the cost side, allowing stearic acid manufacturers to maintain strong positioning across Asia.
On the inventories side, Domestic palm oil port stock remained strong at an estimated 750,000 tons, which limited upside potential. On the other hand, suppliers of stearic acid remained confident due to steady demand through contracts and steady production levels. The delay in Malaysian exports during the dry season also affected how the palm oil was distributed globally. The figures show that while the October palm oil production figure is estimated to be 2.04m tons, which is an 11% increase month-on-month and a 14% increase year-on-year, the November figure returned to 1.935m tons, which still represents a 19.4% annual increase over November last year. Therefore, inventory stocks had increased to approximately 2.835m tons, a 54.5% increase over November last year. Although there is sufficient supply of stearic acid for the short term, producers continue to take a cautious approach due to uncertainty surrounding global market fundamentals.
The sentiment of market traders was also influenced by expectations of policy actions. Indonesia plans to complete a trade agreement with the US at the end of January that would potentially exempt palm oil products from tariffs, there is also uncertainty surrounding the scheduled release of renewable fuel standards for the US during the first quarter, which has made traders cautious in making decisions. Additionally, seasonal factors have some significance at this time, since the production trough for most crops generally occurs in the first quarter of the year, while February coincides with both the Spring Festival and Ramadan.
As per the ChemAnalyst anticipation the price of the Stearic Acid is expected to maintain stability in the upcoming sessions. This stability in the Stearic Acid price projection is primarily linked with the ability to maintain steady supply levels will prevent large spikes in price over the next few sessions, while consistent production, stable contract requirements, and supportive palm oil prices will continue to provide the Stearic Acid market with firm support.
