China's Sodium Formate market showed a downturn in July 2025, with prices dropping by 1.6% month on month, mirroring the cautious outlook in the overall chemicals space. Price trends matched with underlying weakness in manufacturing activity and easing cost pressures from major feedstock materials.
The domestic Sodium Formate sector saw stable production through most of July, with plants operating consistently in a challenging market environment. Production rate was steady at manufacturing sites, with domestic plant operations and exports seeing almost uniform production availability to match supply and demand.
Manufacturing economics were on a steady path as the prices of the feedstock formic acid stayed weak as well, leading to a reduction in input cost burden for Sodium Formate producers. The cost relief offered some support to producer margins even when actual selling numbers sagged.
The market witnessed strong influence from China’s manufacturing activity contraction as reflected by notable decline in manufacturing index for the month. The overall industrial slowdown led to cautious procurement strategies for most downstream sectors, impacting demand patterns for Sodium Formate.
Inventory management was stable for the month, where both producers and end-users adopted a measured approach with no aggressive Sodium Formate restocking initiatives in place, balancing supply with actual consumption demand.
The leather processing sector, which is a key consumer for Sodium Formate, saw mixed performance in the month of July. Domestic tanneries operated at stable production levels, leading to steady demand for Sodium Formate in its key application areas, such as tanning process.
Tannery operations were moderate, leading to uniform requirement for Sodium Formate with no significant surge or drop in material requisition. However, the export-oriented goods manufacturing segment continued to face headwinds with narrow margin.
The China manufacturing segment continued to react to demand change from downstream by altering their production flow; the leather industry was no different. The trends for the leather exports in January to July period were between extreme ends. Exports decreased by 2.1% YoY spurred by contractions in leather footwear and leather clothing categories. The repeat order from export customers was lower than previous years, leading to overall demand restraint.
The textile demand also showed similar mixed patterns for Sodium Formate applications in dyeing and finishing processes. China textile and apparel exports swung in opposite directions, with fabric exports posting 2.5% YoY growth, while apparel contracts by 0.5%. The overall performance for the textile and apparel space remained flat when compared with previous year, leading to timid buying numbers for Sodium Formate.
Looking ahead, market participants expect Sodium Formate demand to recover gradually as the downstream industries normalize procurement strategy after summer. Seasonal requirement from de-icing chemical use will be an extra support as the preparation for wintertime picks up. On the other hand, continued weakness in feedstock formic acid price may keep Sodium Formate sentiment weak in near term.
