US Aniline Prices Surge on Limited Supplies and Logistics Constraints

In the US market, the Aniline prices increased by almost 2.6% during November 2023 amid limited availability of supplies and moderate demand from the buyers.

The market sentiments from the Methylene Diphenyl Diisocyanate industries remained pessimistic due to no significant improvement in demand for Polyurethane materials from the end-user manufacturing and automotive sectors. As per the market sources, the US manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index remained stable during October 2023, indicating neither expansion nor contraction in the manufacturing sector activities. Simultaneously, Aniline offtakes were low from the domestic buyers, as there was no improvement in demand for materials from the downstream industries.

At the same time, the cost support fell on feedstock Benzene in exporting countries during the first half of the month amid declined demand from downstream industries. Simultaneously, the cost support remained low on feedstock Nitric Acid due to reduced demand from fertilizer manufacturers amid dampened application rates in the agriculture sector. It reduced the production costs of Aniline.

Consequently, the exporters kept their quotations unchanged, and the Aniline price trend remained stable in the USA during the first half of the month. However, as per the sources, the Mississippi River water levels have noticeably reduced, and logistics companies have issued restrictions on shipments through the Mississippi River. It impacted the Aniline supply rates in the domestic market. Simultaneously, the exports remained limited from the international exporters due to an increase in the production costs amid an escalation in feedstock Nitric Acid prices. The hike in upstream Natural Gas prices amid high demand due to a surge in consumption rates during winter and stocking practices from buyers before the peak winter impacted the feedstock Nitric Acid quotations. It raised the Aniline prices in the second half of the month, and Asian exporters raised their quotations.

As per the ChemAnalyst data sources, the import prices of Aniline in the US settled at  USD 1962/MT at the end of the fourth week of November 2023.

As per the assessment, the Aniline prices will decline in the US market towards the end of the year. The stock availability is moderate amid weak demand from the downstream isocyanates industries. The demand from the downstream buyers will reduce due to a decline in buyers' stocking practices as the retailers prepare for the holidays and Black Friday sales towards the end of November 2023. At the same time, the Asian players do the destocking practices towards the end of the year. Consequently, supply rates will improve, and the inventory levels will increase in the US market, which will negatively impact their market quotations of Aniline.