Downtrend of Asian MMA continued for third month Straight, expect an uptrend rally in Q1 2022

Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) prices remained in freefall in key Asian markets continuing on the slump in previous months. Demand deterioration has been a key force behind the dullness in MMA market sentiment. Both traditional and imminent factors have led to global demand drop.

Holiday season in the West has resulted in muted enquiries for MMA and downstream acrylics from North America and Northwestern Europe. There has been traditional hush in the market as consumption declined in the last few weeks of the year. Muted activity has been further amplified by rising covid cases across the globe.

Despite high raw material and logistics costs, MMA producers failed to increase or even rollover the prices of MMA in China market. This has been majorly derived from demand deterioration in the MMA market which is caused by stagnancy in acrylics during the last month of the year. Consequently, MMA manufacturers have decreased their production rates on a par with the available demand. This has resulted in dip in MMA pricing by USD 30-50 per MT. Furthermore, market participants were also observed having next quarter contract discussions keeping current market sentiment at the forefront of pricing settlements.

India, majorly dependent on imports from South Asia, have also measured a substantial fall in the MMA prices epitomizing the market sentiment in the Asia-Pacific region. The fall in the prices came in the backdrop of deteriorating demand from acrylics industry.

As per ChemAnalyst, “MMA is likely to observe a change in market sentiment as demand for acrylic sheets is expected to pick up in the upcoming quarter, however current market sentiment is unlikely to change in the short-term in lieu of ongoing holiday season and resurgence in covid cases in light of emergence of another highly infectious variant.”