Fatty Acid - C16 Price Trend and Forecast

Fatty Acid - C16 Regional Price Overview

Get the latest insights on price movement and trend analysis of Fatty Acid - C16 in different regions across the world (Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa).

Fatty Acid - C16 Price Trend for the First Half of 2024

The most commonly found fatty acid in plants and animals or Fatty acid C-16 is also known as palmitic acid. Fatty Acid - C16 is capaciously consumed in the surfactant and soaping industries. Therefore, its downstream demands also dictate its market behavior. However, its price trends primarily mirror the fluctuations in its feedstock prices. Various animal and plant fats can be used to produce palmitic acid, the most common being palm and coconut oils. Therefore, their price trajectories closely mimicked each other during the said time period.
 

Fatty Acid - C16 Price Chart

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The palm oil prices traced a mixed curve in both the said quarters. During the first quarter, adverse weather conditions such as El Nino and export restrictions limited the supply of major producers like Indonesia and Malaysia. However, increased yield created a situation of oversupply in the latter phase of the said span. With this, the fatty acid C16 prices showcased consistent fluctuations for the entire period of H1’24.

Analyst Insight

According to Procurement Resource, current market sentiments suggest a range-bound behavior of fatty acid C-16 prices for the upcoming months. Trade hindrances in the global markets create some uncertainty; however, the general outlook seems optimistic.
 

Fatty Acid - C16 Price Trend for the Second Half of 2023

Fatty acid - C16 price trend during the discussed span continued to follow the market fluctuations of its feedstock materials, palm oil, and coconut oil. The market oscillations were very marginal and confined within limited ranges, exuding an overall stable outlook for fatty acid-C16 markets.

The third quarter was more positively inclined than the fourth quarter as the demands for fatty acid - C16 were higher during Q3’23. However, the fourth quarter saw some demand depreciation owing to the poor freight outlook at this time. Overall, a convoluted price trajectory was witnessed in H2’23.

Analyst Insight

According to Procurement Resource, the Fatty Acid - C16 prices will continue to fluctuate in the coming month as well since the gap between the supply and demand is not likely to lessen substantially.
 

Fatty Acid - C16 Price Trend for the First Half of 2023

During the first half of the year 2023, the Fatty Acid - C16 observed a strong start initially, but later situation was not much different from the previous quarters. Despite starting strongly in January’23, the prices mostly tottered on the downside.

A subtle reduction in the processing and upstream costs during the said time was primarily responsible for dull market sentiments. Also, as the Chinese manufacturing industries were still trying to revive after a long COVID-19 lockdown, the posed demands were really low. All these factors contributed to the poor performance of Fatty Acid - C16.

Analyst Insight

According to Procurement Resource, not much recovery is expected in the near quarter since the supplies are overpowering demands, and the market sentiments are difficult to improve.
 

Fatty Acid - C16 Price Trend for the Second Half of 2022

Fatty Acid - C16, also known by the names Palmitic Acid and Cetylic acid, is a sixteen-carbon fatty acid that is used in various chemicals, fuel, lubricants, rubber, cleaning, furnishing, soap, cosmetics, plastics, rubber, etc. sectors.

The prices replicate the price trends of its feedstock vegetable oil or fat prices. During the said period 0f the year 2022, the prices mostly remained on the downward side as the consuming sectors posed very limited demands because of the gloomy market situation amid heavy inflation. So, overall, market sentiments were disappointing during the time.

Analyst Insight

According to Procurement Resource, the Fatty Acid - C16 prices are expected to behave in a similar manner since the current market dynamics do not give a very promising future outlook.
 

Fatty Acid - C16 Price Trend for the First Half of 2022

Asia

The market fundamentals for fatty acids were strong owing to the rising demand for personal care and cleaning products in the region as a result of worries about the omicron virus. The cost of fatty acids C16/palmitic acid  continued to rise in the Asia-Pacific region during the second quarter of 2022. Palm oil exports were prohibited by Indonesia and Malaysia due to supply issues in their domestic markets.

Europe

The rising cost of palm oil, an essential feedstock, considerably contributed to the Q1 increase in the price of fatty acid C16 in Europe. The acute energy crisis in the area and the geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine have led to high freight prices and logistical constraints. This made things worse for market participants. Due to increased palm, and coconut oil prices, fatty acid prices in Europe spiked in the second quarter of 2022.

North America

The limited supply of feedstock palm oil in the global market has a cascading effect that caused fatty acid C16 prices in North America to soar in Q1 2022. High manufacturing costs for fatty acids in the local market were caused by rising feedstock costs. As manufacturers had adequate feed to satisfy the local market by the second quarter's end, price trends in the North American market began to fall.
 

Fatty Acid - C16 Price Trend For the Fourth Quarter of 2021

Asia

In spite of the fact that Indonesia and Malaysia produce relatively little palm oil, the Asian fatty acid market showed signs of strength as a result of strong palm oil feedstock performance on the world market. Logistical challenges, combined with rising fatty acid prices, kept trading offers in India stable.

The government's Dual Control Policy, combined with a lack of feedstock and output limits, pushed industrial units such as Jiangsu Shengtai (with an 80 KTPA capacity) and Deyuan Gaoke (with a 100 KTPA capacity) to temporarily close their doors.

Several production facilities were short on mid-cut fatty alcohols for a significant amount of the quarter, which increased the country's demand to import the product. Even though downstream buyers placed sufficient orders for the product in response to market optimism, demand from the detergent and personal care industries posed difficulties. Indian fatty acid prices were hovering around 3130 USD/MT in the last year. In December, prices in India were 3440 USD/MT on a FOB basis, while prices in China were 3440 USD/MT on a FOB basis.

Europe

Amid rising input costs that were unexpectedly high, the European fatty acid industry remained bullish in the fourth quarter of 2021. Because of a global shortage of palm oil feedstock and supply delays, as well as extraordinarily high energy prices, input costs continued to rise. In addition to port container constraints and movement limitations imposed as a result of the increasing number of Omicron cases in the region, spot trading activity was further impeded.

As a result of the recurrence of Covid instances, Germany had a considerable increase in soap and detergent consumption, which resulted in an increase in downstream industry inquiries for Fatty Acid and strengthened manufacturers' confidence in their ability to supply steady contract prices.

Prices rose to their highest levels of the year in December, when they closed at 4080 USD/MT FOB, as a result of heightened market limitations in the downstream sectors towards the conclusion of the third quarter. The demand for personal care products played a role in the rise in pricing patterns, as well as other factors.

North America

Increasing palm oil feedstock prices on the international market and constrained supply as a result of vessel delays from Asian countries helped to drive up the price of fatty acids in October to their highest level since 2007.

Additionally, the scarcity of trucks for delivering consignments to downstream businesses contributed to the manufacturers' disillusionment during the first few weeks of the quarter, on top of the high input costs. Demand fundamentals in the downstream personal care and detergent categories, on the other hand, were predicted to outpace supply.

Although palm oil prices experienced a minor decline in the last months of the year as a result of improved port movements and lower freight charges, the region's fatty acid prices were restrained in the North American region.

A decline in demand for fatty acid as a result of low downstream activity over the Christmas and New Year holidays boosted bearishness in December's last days, as seen by the collapse in fatty acid prices to 1760 USD/MT DEL in the last few days of December.

Procurement Resource provides latest prices of Fatty Acid - C16. 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.