Argon Price Trend and Forecast

Regional Price Overview

Get the latest insights on price movement and trend analysis of Argon in different regions across the world (Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa).

Argon Price Trend for the Second Half of 2023

Argon is a noble gas frequently used in the welding process as it protects the welding region from airborne impurities and inhibits oxidation. Further, argon is also essential to the manufacturing of specialty glass and semiconductors. The developing manufacturing sectors, especially in the electronics and automotive industries, where inert atmospheres are essential for high-quality production processes, are the main drivers of the rising demand for argon.

Argon Price Chart

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Throughout the year, the supply chains of noble gases were under pressure from the aftereffects of the Russian-Ukraine crisis. The conflict in Ukraine disrupted global supplies of rare gases, which were critical for various industries like chipmaking, medicine, and space propulsion. Russia and Ukraine, major suppliers, previously accounted for 40-50% of global neon supply, 25-30% of xenon and krypton, and a similar percentage of argon.

In the third and fourth quarters, concerns arose about chipmaker disturbance due to the conflict, especially regarding shortages vital for semiconductor production. However, the crisis prompted chipmakers to look for reserves, invest in recycling technology, and explore alternative gases. In this jest, the air-separation plants with taps for rare-gas extraction emerged as a costly but viable solution to boost future supply.

Additionally, efforts in Japan and South Korea aimed to enhance domestic production and reduce reliance on imports, further contributing significantly to the stabilization of market supply chains. Upon the stabilization in the supply sector, the inflated prices of argon, along with other industrially potent noble gases, started to decline. Despite initial concerns, successful industry responses and rerouting of source plants, along with the adaptability of both producers and consumers, eventually led to a stagnant trend in the prices of argon.

Analyst Insight

According to Procurement Resource, the price trend of Argon is estimated to showcase a static movement as the divergence of supply chains and rising demand for gas will balance out each other in the upcoming quarters.

Argon Price Trend for the First Half of 2023

Argon is a chemical element that is classified as a noble gas (inert gas). It is isolated on a massive scale through fractional distillation of liquid air, and when the temperature is lowered to below 186 degrees, it can be transformed into a colorless liquid. The largest region of argon production is Asia Pacific, followed by North America. The price trend of argon is majorly driven by its usage in spectroscopy, cryosurgery, airbag inflation, refrigeration, and other applications.

In the first two quarters of 2023, the price trend of argon remained volatile as the Russia-Ukraine war hampered the global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions. The conflict between these two nations has resulted in supply chain interruptions, a rise in commodity prices, and economic penalties against other nations, which have all had an impact on various markets throughout the world.

Analyst Insight

According to Procurement Resource, the price trend of Argon is expected to showcase a mixed trend as the global recovery of the market is slow, and with volatility in demand, the price trend of argon is estimated to fluctuate.

Argon Price Trend for the Second Half of 2022

Argon prices remained anchored during H2 2022. Q3 started with a rise while prices started stabilizing by the end of Q4. The third quarter witnessed problems with the production, transport, and storage of Argon which led to the incline in prices. But Q4 started with supply chain restoration and resumption of other industrial activities thereby, stabilizing the price trend. But the demand could not keep up, so the argon prices remained almost stagnant in the latter Q4 H2 2022.

Analyst Insight

According to Procurement Resource, the argon market is expected to rise in the coming future considering the increase in the demand from the downstream industries given the active rise in the applications of argon ranging from filament bulbs to scuba diving.

Argon Price Trend For the First Half of 2022

All the key players in the gaseous market have increased the prices for bulk industrial gases, including Argon. Presently, the prices for Argon have been hiked around 15%, including the charges for delivery, material handling and other miscellaneous services.

This price increase was in line with the increasing energy and labour costs owing to the surging crude oil and natural gas prices. In the case of Argon, the rising costs of sourcing are also responsible for the price trend to strengthen globally.

Procurement Resource provides latest prices of Argon. Each price database is tied to a user-friendly graphing tool dating back to 2014, which provides a range of functionalities: configuration of price series over user defined time period; comparison of product movements across countries; customisation of price currencies and unit; extraction of price data as excel files to be used offline.