High Energy Costs Push Up Global Nitric Acid Prices in September 2022

The ongoing global crisis has injected uncertainties in the prices of several commodities, including major chemicals like Nitric Acid. As per the recent assessment, global Nitric Acid prices have showcased an uptrend entering September 2022. The analysis shows a steep price recovery trend in major Asian economies, including China and India, while Europe and the USA kept tracing the previous trajectory.

As per the data, among major global economies, China has witnessed the steepest rebound in Nitric Acid prices during September 2022, which was around 15%. Since the pandemic has hit the market, market activities are still under hindrance, and the supply-demand balance has broken. Consequently, prices remained dull during the previous month, which later started finding a new trend in an upward direction.

On the other side, the European market has been facing the threat of rising natural gas prices since the Russia-Ukraine war escalated. Recently, Russia has announced a supply cut of Natural gas through Nord Stream 1 to Germany, which has exacerbated the already rising prices trend of several commodities for the European market. Additionally, feedstock Ammonia prices have increased due to the crippling availability of feedstock natural gas in the country, thus supporting the uptrend in Nitric Acid prices in the domestic market. As per the data, a consistent hike of around 3% has been observed for Nitric Acid in Germany, primarily driven by high upstream value.

The US market also follows a similar trend, with a 3.3% price increment for Nitric Acid. The high input cost has affected the US Nitric Acid market, where the demand for the product remained slower than expected. Coming winter demand has become a significant concern for the US and European players, as it may skyrocket the energy prices.

As per the ChemAnalyst analysis, improving demand from the downstream sector has pushed up the prices of Nitric Acid in the regional market of Asia, while for Europe and the US market, input cost would play a significant role in any price movement.