The price of Chinese Sodium Formate had decreased marginally by about 1% in November 2025 on the back of stable cost of raw materials along with the balanced between demand and supply. Expectations of year-end restocking and demand for winter road de-icing are forecast to support upward price movement through early 2026.
In November, the prices of China's Sodium Formate market settled with slight corrections, as the FOB quotations from Shandong were down by nearly 1% from that of the previous month. The slight downtrend reflected a balanced market situation rather than a market with obvious weakness with producers running stable in the whole month. The pressure on Sodium Formate costs was limited due to stability in prices of domestic-produced soda ash with regular mining activities in major production areas and minor fluctuations in the availability of carbon monoxide.
The production activity for Sodium Formate continued at the units with stable operating rates in the month of November. No major capacity expansions were seen during the month, and plant inventories were in line with normal seasonal levels. No maintenance turnarounds were scheduled, which facilitated continuous production of Sodium Formate, and ocean freight rates on important China-India and China-UAE routes were moderate compared with last month. This allowed Chinese producers to concentrate on fine-tuning their prices rather than engaging in aggressive volume protection.
Sodium Formate demand pattern was mixed among major end users. The enquiries for export from de-icer producers on the east coast of the United States and from Northern Europe were average, as mildly warm November weather delayed winter stockpiling plans. Airport runways and roadways maintenance contractors deferred spot buying in anticipation of seasonal buying. By contrast, leather tanneries in China ran at normal capacity, supplying base domestic demand without driving further sales momentum. Consistent sales persisted to other major Asian destinations such as India, Indonesia and the UAE, where Sodium Formate is used for drilling fluids and leather treatment.
Sodium Formate trade trends remained constant, with Chinese suppliers taking advantage of the usual cost competitiveness in the markets of Southeast Asia and the Gulf. Oilfield specialty chemicals in particular, continued to receive steady demand as upstream activity remained constant. New battery electrolyte applications produced limited trial volumes in November, which was certainly not enough to have a meaningful effect on the overall market balances. Sodium Formate buyers in all sectors had felt they were adequately stocked, seeing little risk of prices rising due to stable availability of upstream raw materials.
The outlook for December is that the price of Sodium Formate will increase by 2.4% as South Asian leather processors increase their purchases by the year-end with export enquiries getting stronger. Stable soda ash and methanol prices will support producer margins, allowing for orderly price increases. Normal tannery activities will consolidate baseline supplies within the domestic market and boost the Sodium Formate market sentiment.
January 2026 estimates are further bullish with a 2% price hike for Sodium Formate. Purchasing activity will be stimulated by peak winter de-icing demand in North America and Europe, which should help to boost export volumes and quotes. Steady plant operations will enable production capacity to be sufficient for seasonal demand surge. Also, limited competition from European manufacturers who might go through maintenance activities will give more pricing power to China in main export markets. The seasonal demand growth on solid supply fundamentals, is expected to increase the prices of Sodium Formate in early 2026.
