India n-Methyl Aniline prices eased in January 2026, down around 0.9%, as domestic spot offers softened amid mixed landed-cost signals and muted fuel demand. Early January showed firmer landed import parity, but local Ex-Mumbai activity drifted lower as distributors rebalanced inventories and end-user buying remained modest. Chinese exporters held steady operating rates and port handling stayed smooth, keeping physical availability balanced even as feedstock and logistics costs nudged landed offers higher. n-Methyl Aniline demand across key end-use sectors was steady, providing a floor rather than a catalyst, blenders maintaining call-offs, rigid-foam polyurethane intermediates holding volumes, and agrochemical formulators booking routine lots for pre-kharif. Domestic offtake remained near a structural baseline of 67 kilo tonnes annually, signaling predictable but non-expanding demand. Upstream costs and freight pressures persisted, nitrobenzene at origin rose and freight indices climbed, while currency moves and methanol cost expectations supported a cautious backdrop. n-Methyl Aniline outlook signals modest gains early next period, then softening into late spring, with a potential July recovery.
India n-Methyl Aniline prices fell 0.9% in January 2026 as domestic spot offers softened against a backdrop of mixed landed-cost signals and seasonally muted fuel demand. Early mid-January saw upward pressure on landed import parity with the India-bound CFR JNPT spot moving higher as per ChemAnalyst data, but local Ex-Mumbai n-Methyl Aniline trading drifted lower as distributors adjusted inventories and end-user buying remained measured. Throughout the month Chinese n-Methyl Aniline exporters maintained steady operating rates and port handling remained smooth, which limited any acute tightness in physical availability even as feedstock and logistics costs nudged landed offers higher.
n-Methyl Aniline demand patterns were largely steady across the key consuming sectors, providing a base rather than a driver for n- Methyl Aniline price strength. Blenders that use n-Methyl Aniline as a high-octane gasoline additive maintained steady call-offs despite seasonally soft retail fuel sales, supporting a consumption floor. In contrast, polyurethane intermediates for rigid-foam formulations serving appliances and insulation held procurement volumes unchanged, mirroring flat factory-output indicators published for January. Agrochemical formulators booked routine lots for pre-kharif pesticide preparation and provided moderate additional demand. Domestic n-Methyl Aniline offtake remained close to its structural baseline of 67 kilotonnes per year, keeping volumetric demand predictable but not expansionary.
On the supply and cost side, n-Methyl Aniline producers and importers faced upward pressure from feedstocks and logistics. Nitrobenzene at origin appreciated, a concurrent rise in freight indices, which incrementally lifted CIF landed costs. Anticipated firm methanol costs were also cited by n-Methyl Aniline market participants as a supporting factor for near-term input costs, squeezing producer margins and tempering aggressive spot selling. Additionally, modest currency depreciation increased working-capital outlays for importers and allowed sellers to reflect some cost increases in offers. That said, no public plant outages were reported among Chinese exporters and contractual cargo flows stayed regular, keeping physical supply balanced overall.
Looking ahead, ChemAnalyst analysis signals a modest uptick in the near term followed by a softening through late spring. The short-term n-Methyl Aniline outlook shows modest gains in February–March driven by firm feedstock and freight-related cost support, while April–June is projected to see modest downward pressure as seasonal demand pulses normalize, a modest recovery is flagged again by July. These projections are based on current market trends and are subject to market conditions, notably feedstock trajectories, freight movements and seasonal changes in agrochemical and blending procurement. Market participants will watch nitrobenzene and methanol cost trends, freight rates and currency moves closely for indications of whether imported parity and domestic Ex-Mumbai n-Methyl Aniline offers will re-align in the coming months.
