Prolonged Price Dullness Seems to be Over for Oxo Alcohols, Prices have Started Rising in India

Last year heard to be depressing for oxo alcohol manufacturers, as despite of firm offtakes from the domestic market, ample availability led to consistent and steep decline in prices of all Oxo Alcohols. Major players like Andhra Petrochem and BPCL (Bharat Petroleum Corp) heard revising their offers to sustain offtakes. As per the ChemAnalyst data, a sharp rebound in price of oxo alcohols has been observed since January, which has risen by around 3.8%, 10% and 24% for n-Butanol, Iso-butanol and 2-Ethylhexanol respectively.

Rising crude oil value has been a matter of concern for all the domestic as well as international oxo alcohol manufacturers since past few weeks, which has been pushing up the prices of most of the commodities in domestic as well as international market. Meanwhile, demand fundamentals for the product have also improved in the domestic market due to firm offtakes from downstream paints and coating sector. However, comparatively n-Butanol prices have shown less improvement than other oxo alcohols, while 2-Ethylhexanol showcased sharp rise on the back of firm demand amid regional scarcity. Availability of 2-Ethylhexanol remained comparatively lower than other similar commodities in the Asian market, which remained the major factor behind steep price escalation for the commodity.

As per the ChemAnalyst analysis, contrary to market expectations, while experts were anticipating rebound during March 2022, sudden price revision appeared during initial 6 weeks of this year. Further price escalation is also expected on the back of rising crude oil value which is not expected to show any significant decline in forthcoming months. Moreover, rising geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine has also concerned traders, which is affecting global market dynamics. Conclusively, prices are likely to keep this uptrend continue in forthcoming month in Indian market.