For the Quarter Ending March 2024
North America
During the quarter, the Cyclopentanone market witnessed a blend of positive and negative trends. Despite stable demand, the market experienced fluctuations due to various factors. Notably, the USA market saw significant price changes, influenced by factors like low domestic demand from automotive and rubber sectors, alongside logistical challenges in the shipping industry due to the Red Sea crisis.
These factors led to both price declines and increases throughout the quarter. Moreover, seasonality contributed to price changes. Forthcoming summer season spurred demand from the fragrance personal care segment, supporting prices initially. Additionally, robust demand in the western market during New Year festivities provided a temporary uplift, albeit tapering off later in the month. Conversely, the Asian market remained active in anticipation of Lunar New Year, Ramadan, and Easter festivities during the last two months of the quarter.
Overall, while demand remained relatively stable, the Cyclopentanone market experienced fluctuations influenced by sector-specific demand, logistical challenges, and seasonal variations across different regions. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for market participants to navigate through the complexities of price fluctuations and demand patterns.
APAC
During this quarter, there has been a mix of positive and negative trends in the Cyclopentanone market in Asia. The demand for the product has remained stable, with moderate to low supplies. In China specifically, the market has experienced the maximum price fluctuations. However, the market has been influenced by factors such as low domestic demand from the automotive/rubber segment, as well as logistical challenges in the shipping industry due to the Red Sea crisis. These factors have contributed to both price declines and increases throughout the quarter. Additionally, seasonality has played a role in the price changes. The start of the summer season has led to increased demand from the personal care segment, providing some support to prices. However, the overall market sentiment has been bearish, with the Chinese PMI remaining below 50 base points, indicating a general lack of demand in the country. The overall sentiment has been bearish, with a lack of demand in China. The latest quarter-ending price for Cyclopentanone FOB Shanghai in China is USD 4120/MT.
Europe
During the quarter, the Cyclopentanone market witnessed a blend of positive and negative trends. Despite stable demand, the market experienced fluctuations due to various factors. Notably, the German market saw significant price changes, influenced by factors like low domestic demand from automotive and rubber segment, alongside logistical challenges in the shipping industry due to the Red Sea crisis. These factors led to both price declines and increases throughout the quarter. Moreover, seasonality contributed to price changes. Forthcoming summer season spurred demand from the fragrance and personal care segment, supporting prices initially. Additionally, robust demand in the western market during New Year festivities provided a temporary uplift, albeit tapering off later in the month. Conversely, the Asian market remained active in anticipation of Lunar New Year, Ramadan, and Easter festivities during the last two months of the quarter. Overall, while demand remained relatively stable, the Cyclopentanone market experienced fluctuations influenced by sector-specific demand, logistical challenges, and seasonal variations across different regions. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for market participants to navigate through the complexities of price fluctuations and demand patterns.
For the Quarter Ending December 2023
North America
During the last quarter of 2023, Cyclopentanone prices have declined continuously on the back of diminishing demand dynamics and stable inventories. It has been noted that procurements have faced significant constraints, according to reports from market participants. Market activity has slowed down in the North American region in the second half of the quarter while there were ample procurements in the first half of the quarter.
The dynamics of the Cyclopentanone market have become more complex due to a combination of factors, where procurers are facing restrictions in their procurement activities due to reduced demand from downstream industries, leading to subdued market activity.
Simultaneously, potential buyers are struggling to obtain substantial material and are encountering significant inventory challenges in the process. The situation is exacerbated by the limited availability of volumes in the domestic spot market. Earlier in the quarter, the demand from both pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals segment was active as market participants procured proactively. However, the buying sentiments diminished towards the last two months of Q4 2023. Hence, prices of Cyclopentanone in the US were assessed at USD 4123 per MT after conclusion of November 2023.
Europe
Across Europe, Cyclopentanone prices steadily dropped throughout the final quarter of 2023, driven by softening demand and stable stockpiles. Market participants reported significant limitations in procurement, causing market activity to weaken further in the latter half of the quarter, despite earlier brisk buying in the first half. The European Cyclopentanone market has become increasingly intricate. Reduced demand from downstream industries has restricted purchasing activity, leading to quieter market conditions. Additionally, potential buyers face material shortages and significant inventory hurdles, further exacerbated by limited domestic spot market availability. Earlier in the quarter, both pharmaceutical and fine chemical sectors actively procured, but buying sentiment waned significantly during the final two months of Q4 2023. Consequently, European Cyclopentanone prices settled at USD 3845 per MT by the end of November 2023.
Asia
Cyclopentanone prices sustained their overall downtrend during this quarter again owing to high availability and extended process of price stability. As per the data, Cyclopentanone prices have been falling consistently in the Asian market since first quarter of 2023, as the prices were previously hovering at a very high value due to prolonged high production costs and persistent supply chain issues. From the demand perspective, cyclopentane consumer industries have performed well in Asia during this Quarter again, as the key countries had no disturbances in the consumer market, post the government revoked stringent pandemic-related policies. Further, from the perspective of international demand, procurements remained stable to firm from the personal care segment and several key consumers have seen high sales with the arrival of winter. Supplies of the product have been stable throughout the quarter, and there have been no significant supply chain issues observed. Further, prices reaching normalcy remained the key factor for the falling pricing trend. Key consumers had notable hikes in sales during the previous quarter. These are the consumers who primarily deal in the personal care segment, and they are expecting a positive outlook for the product for the last quarter of the year.
