North America
The North American n-Butanol market faced a bearish trend in the first quarter of 2024, with prices slumping by approximately 18%. This decline was driven by low demand from the downstream construction and automotive sectors in the Asian market.
The construction sector’s low demand was primarily attributed to the real estate crisis in China and the post-festive slowdown following the Chinese Lunar New Year, which also affected the automotive industry. Additionally, drought conditions in the Panama Canal hindered US suppliers from shipping cargo to the Asian market.
Despite Eastman Chemicals, a leading US oxo-alcohol producer, announcing a price hike, this did not translate into increased export prices for n-Butanol. The downturn in China’s construction sector, where real estate developers faced liquidity issues and halted construction activities, led to delays and postponements in inventory procurement, further driving the bearish market sentiment.
Get Real Time Prices for n-Butanol: https://www.chemanalyst.com/Pricing-data/n-butanol-78
Asia
In the first quarter of 2024, the Asian n-Butanol market experienced mixed conditions. Prices saw an inflation of over 7% in the first two months due to increased production costs in the European market and price hikes by major oxo-alcohol producers like OQ Chemicals and Eastman Chemicals. This was exacerbated by OQ Chemicals declaring force majeure at its Oberhausen site in Germany and a shortage of feedstock propylene due to plant shutdowns in Europe and the US caused by challenging weather conditions. The crisis in the Red Sea further increased freight and insurance costs, leading to expensive imports in East Asia.
However, in the last month of Q1 2024, prices declined by approximately 4.5% due to low demand from the construction and automotive industries. This decline eased the demand from downstream plasticizer and paints and coating industries. Demand conditions in East Asia remained unfavorable, evidenced by declines in housing starts and public construction orders. The automotive sector also failed to support the n-Butanol market, with sales continuing to decline in Q1 2024.
Europe
The European n-Butanol market saw a significant price inflation of nearly 70% in Q1 2024, driven by heightened production costs, a scarcity of feedstock propylene, and price hikes by major oxo-alcohol producers. The scarcity of propylene was due to shutdowns of feedstock plants in the US, leading to increased production costs. OQ Chemicals’ force majeure declaration at its Oberhausen site in Germany further exacerbated the supply shortage.
Demand in the Eurozone was moderate, mainly from the Dutch, Belgian, and British markets, where construction activities improved. However, in Germany, the construction sector remained in retrenchment for the fifteenth consecutive month, with significant contractions in residential, commercial, and civil engineering segments by the end of March 2024.
Get Real Time Prices for n-Butanol: https://www.chemanalyst.com/Pricing-data/n-butanol-78
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