For the Quarter Ending March 2023
North America
The market prices of Ethyl Acrylate depleted in the Asian market during Q1 of 2023, with prices at USD 1945/ton FOB USGC. With rising market inventories and the participation of traders and suppliers, the fertilizer market in the USA de-escalated. Due to increased Sulphuric Acid stockpiles in the local market, the product's marginal demand fell in the area. Due to lower sales in the USA market region, the revenues from sulfuric acid were depleted. With the conflict between supply and demand, the situation in the downstream fertilizer market was dire, consumer interest in buying Sulphuric Acid was average, and the production trend was downward.
Asia
The prices of Ethyl Acrylate were de-escalated in the Asian market during the first quarter of 2023, with costs at USD 1516/ton FOB Shenzhen in January. There were enough inventories with the traders as a result of the Chinese market's declining demand for Acrylic Acid and an increase in the shipping of acrylates at the beginning of the month. In order to maintain market share, producers are continuing to produce at the same levels despite declining demand, which has increased finished goods inventories. The merchants attempted to lower the price of the goods in the area to keep a lower quotation due to rising market rivalry for Ethyl Acrylate. The rebalancing of supply and demand was what Ethyl Acrylate was looking for, and the decreasing trend was being handled with prudence.
Europe
Ethyl Acrylate prices depleted in the German market with costs at USD 2150/ton FD Wiesbaden during Q1 of 2023. Due to diminishing demand and unfavorable market sentiment, prices fell when feedstock (Ethyl Acrylate) changed on the local market. This fall in downstream product procurement elevated the stock of raw Acrylic Acid in the German market, as quoted by the traders in the region. Although it was still evident that Ethyl Acrylate was being purchased on the German market, the collapse of German industrial orders signaled a protracted period of industrial decline. European markets closed lower even as flash Purchasing Manager Index data showed a return to growth for the eurozone.
For the Quarter Ending December 2022
North America
During the fourth quarter of 2022, the prices of Ethyl Acrylate plummeted in the North American market, with costs ranging at USD 2989/ton FOB USGC in December in the USA. The US straightened out supply chains amid months of inflationary snarls, and the traders reported an abundance of products in the regional market, although the consumption was less. Industries in the USA ran less efficiently, and inventories were sufficient with the traders and the suppliers. Recently, there has been a general fall in demand for Ethyl Acrylate in downstream industries like adhesives and sealants. However, falling feedstock costs also remained a major reason behind the significant price drop.
Asia
The demand for Ethyl Acrylate from the downstream paints and coatings industry was weak in the Asian market during Q4 of 2022 because of their sluggish performance, which caused the supply side to outstrip the available demand. The prices of Ethyl Acrylate were hovering at USD 1505/tonne Spot Ex-Shenzhen during November in China. Due to an improvement in the supply chain, enterprises in the local market made sales at reduced profit margins despite subdued consumer demand. Demand-related factors such as a decrease in the operating rate, a reduction in purchases, and a decrease in the profitability of downstream products all impacted the Ethyl Acrylate market.
Europe
The prices of Ethyl Acrylate decreased in the European market during the fourth quarter of 2022, with costs ranging at USD 2992/ton FD Wiesbaden in Germany during October, as recorded by ChemAnalyst Research team data. The procurement of Ethyl Acrylate in the German market was still evident, but the collapse of German orders showed a long slide in industrial activities. The supply chain to the German region was moderate to high, in addition to the rising stockpiling of products in the domestic market. The supply from the Asian region to the importing European countries increased with a lower consumption rate in Europe.
For the Quarter Ending September 2022
North America
During Q3 2022, the prices of Ethyl Acrylate fell in the North American market, with prices ranging at USD 3120/tonne FOB USGC during July. To reduce the burden of inflationary pressure from domestic consumers, the country's central bank planned to raise the interest rate, which affected the region's economic activities at the beginning of the quarter. The demand dynamics were leaning towards a significant fall and eventually declined by the mid of the quarter. The operating cost of the product remained on the back of the brim on the back of feedstock Acrylic Acid and Ethanol prices in the US market. There has been a recent fall in demand for the product from the downstream adhesives and sealants industry.
Asia-Pacific
The prices of Ethyl Acrylate decreased in the Asian market during the third quarter of 2022, with prices ranging at USD 2243/tonne FOB Shenzhen in August, as recorded by ChemAnalyst pricing team data. Fortunately, although the supply side was still flexible, downstream demand weakened and loosened upstream Propylene's price. Demand-related factors such as fluctuation in operating rate, a decrease in purchases, and a decrease in downstream product profitability affected the market sentiments. There was an ease in the market for the supply chain from China to the importing countries during the period, and offtakes from the international market were improved.
Europe
The European market saw a decrease in the prices of Ethyl Acrylate during Q3 2022, with prices ranging from USD 3040/tonne FD Wiesbaden in September. The consolidated inventory and rapid growth of E-commerce caused a sudden disruption in the supply chain market. In addition, traders revealed that the price of Ethyl Acrylate would fall in the coming period due to the looming threat of recession which is tending the price curve towards the base. During this period, the regional market saw a decline in demand from dyes and pharmaceutical industries. Prices fell as feedstock fluctuated in the regional market, with declining consumption levels and market sentiments.
For the Quarter Ending June 2022
North America
The cost of natural gas has risen severely in the USA, which has put enormous strain on manufacturers' ability to control input costs and maintain total profitability. However, some information from a reliable market source claims that Russian material was entering the US and European markets through various trade routes, i.e., traders were attempting to purchase cheaper cargoes from Russia and sell in the foreign market. According to ChemAnalyst data, there was a price increment of about 1% in the USA during April, which persisted for a longer duration under certain market assumptions.
Asia
Since the covid situation in China has become more serious, the Asian market has been exhibiting different market characteristics. The country experienced the worst pandemic since 2020, which decreased the fundamentals of general demand for several commodities, including Ethyl Acrylate. However, the country's domestic trade activities were disrupted by the sharp increase in upstream value, resulting in a marginal increase of 1 to 2 percent in April. On the other hand, Indian players continued to worry about offtakes as queries from downstream specialty buyers vanished, and stockpiles remained sufficient to meet the nation's overall demand. According to a Mumbai-based trader, exporters negatively updated their product's prices for the Indian market due to stable to dull demand from the local market, even though domestic material supply was abundant. As a result, April saw a slight drop in CFR prices in India of 0.2 percent.
Europe
High Natural gas costs and supply disruption due to the Russia-Ukraine war has been a major concern for Europe since February, leading to a consistent price hike in several commodities, including Ethyl Acrylate. However, some information from a reliable market source claims that Russian material was entering the US and European markets through various trade routes, i.e., traders were attempting to purchase cheaper cargoes from Russia and sell in the foreign market. Furthermore, consistent hikes in input costs affected the pricing dynamics for several commodities, including Ethyl Acrylate in the European market.
For the Quarter Ending March 2022
North America
North American Acrylate market has been on uptrend since the first week of this year, owing to steep price escalation in price of upstream crude oil under the influence of in Ukraine Russia war. The conflict between Ukraine and Russia, started showing its effect on crude oil value from January, as it was affecting global market sentiments. Consequently, several upstream commodities were getting expensive week over week in the US market, due to the inflationary pressure on convertors. However, US government tried to calm prices by releasing strategic reserves and urged key economies like India, China, Japan, etc. to do the same. Despite all these initiatives, Ethyl Acrylate price showcased an overall uptrend and assessed around USD 2680/MT on spot purchases during February.
Asia Pacific
Asian Acrylate market showcased mixed sentiments during this quarter, which varied with country over country. Cost pressure of rising crude oil value has been observed on several acrylates in the Asian market, prompted by escalated tension between Russia and Ukraine. Russia-Ukraine tension has been injecting uncertainties across global market since the mid of January, which was pushing up prices of global crude and natural gas. However, due to sluggish offtakes from the domestic market, traders were restrained to make significant price revisions on their imported commodities in India, despite imported prices were getting expensive month over month. Ethyl Acrylate price assessed around USD 3100/MT for spot purchases during February in India.
Europe
Soaring crude oil value coupled with rising energy prices in the European market pushed key players to raise their offers to sustain margin. Being highly dependent upon Russia for Natural gas imports, Acrylate manufacturers battered with looming threat of scarcity for the natural gas, which made then anxious about margins. However, later on, due to heavy sanctions on Russia by major European economies like Germany and UK, Natural gas futures spiralled out and injected great turmoil across regional market. Conclusively, taking pressure from abovementioned reasons Ethyl Acrylate price soared in Europe throughout the quarter amid stable demand from the regional market.
Ethyl Acrylate price remained range bounded throughout the quarter in effect of lacklustre demand and deteriorating raw material cost. After witnessing devastation due to freezing weather during February, US market was on recovery phase, where supplies eventually started to normalise prices of several commodities including raw material Acrylic Acid. Raw material Acrylic Acid kept its downtrend continue throughout the quarter and a decline of more than USD 100/MT was observed within three months. On the other hand, crude oil price decayed during November under the threat of rising Omicron variant across global market, which also supported this downtrend for raw material as well as product. Ethyl Acrylate price assessed around USD 2380/MT during December in USA.
Asian market battered with frequent change in pricing dynamics due to supply related issues from major exporting nations. In China, coal shortage during monsoon season and later production cuts imposed under the provision of energy policy, escalated the prices of several raw materials across regional market. The ripple effect of devastation in China was also observed in Indian market, where the demand fundamentals remained high on the back of festive season arrived during November. However, high raw material Acrylic Acid prices shoot up the cost of manufacturing of downstream derivatives and narrowed down the profit margin. Manufacturers heard battling with high input cost while resisting themselves from increasing their product prices to sustain offtakes. Ethyl Acrylate price heard hovering around USD 3330/MT during November.
Due to effectively high raw material prices and enormous rise in energy cost i.e., natural gas, several commodities prices touched a sky-high value during this timeframe. Frequency of changing market dynamics of USA also influenced European market and similar trend was observed for Ethylene Acrylate as USA. Despite, firm offtakes and high energy cost was pushing up prices of several commodities across Europe, Ethyl Acrylate fluctuated in a narrow range throughout the quarter. Ethyl Acrylate prices were already hovering at very high value, which remained a major reason behind overall stability during November and December. Ethyl Acrylate prices assessed around USD 2242/MT during December.
