Propanol Price Trend and Forecast

Propanol Regional Price Overview

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

Propanol Price Trend for the First Half of 2024

Asia

In Southeast Asia, propanol prices rose due to firm demand from regional importers and reduced trading activities, particularly in February. The market in China remained closed for the Lunar New Year, but consistent demand from cosmetics, personal care, and cleaning agent manufacturers supported prices. However, feedstock availability became tight as crude oil supplies from the Middle East were delayed due to geopolitical tensions, leading to moderate production rates.
 

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In South Korea, prices were stable initially, with moderate demand and sufficient stock availability. However, as the Lunar New Year approached, demand softened, and production rates were reduced. By March, demand-supply dynamics remained balanced, although production costs were impacted by inflation and rising feedstock prices. The upward trend continued into the second quarter as well, driven by consistent demand from cleaning agents, personal care, and agrochemical industries, coupled with limited supply due to geopolitical issues affecting crude oil and petrochemical feedstocks.

Europe

The European propanol market saw stable prices in the first quarter, with adequate stock levels and moderate demand. However, supply chain disruptions due to geopolitical tensions and rising energy costs started impacting production costs. By the end of the quarter, the market faced challenges from reduced crude oil availability, leading to higher feedstock costs. The market remained relatively stable, with consistent demand from the cleaning and personal care sectors, although production rates were slightly affected by fluctuating energy prices.

North America

In North America, propanol prices exhibited a steady upward trend throughout the first half of 2024. The region faced supply chain constraints due to geopolitical tensions and delays in crude oil shipments, which affected feedstock availability and increased production costs. Demand remained robust from the cleaning agent and personal care product sectors, supported by rising consumer demand during the spring season. Additionally, the agricultural sector's demand for propanol surged during the planting season, further supporting price increases. Despite some fluctuations in crude oil prices, cost support from upstream ethylene and propylene remained firm, leading to higher propanol prices by mid-year.

Analyst Insight

According to Procurement Resource, the price trend of Propanol is estimated to be driven by the escalating cost of production, although it may lower the profitability of traders and manufacturers of the commodity.
 

Propanol Price Trend for the Second Half of 2023

Asia

The Asian propanol industry remained conflicted for most period of the second half of the year 2023. There were occasional inclines in the price graph indicative of the momentous increase in downstream demands, while at other times, the dips in the price graph also exposed the weaknesses in the propanol markets.

Overall, the Chinese market performed marginally better than the Indian market as the inventories were more stressed with excess stocks in the latter. And as the Chinese industries were trying hard to regain economic might and stability after the long lockdowns the industries were working hard and were procuring at higher levels. Still, because of a dull upstream outlook, the differences were very insignificant. Overall, the prices wavered within very narrow ranges during the second half of the year 2023.

Europe

The performance of the European markets in regard to the propanol industry was very mixed throughout the last two quarters of 2023. The market started on a lower note at the beginning of the third quarter in July; however, with the rise in crude oil prices, the propanol price trend too began to incline temporarily in the second month after the production costs started picking up. However, the shipping and freight interruptions of the fourth quarter brought both domestic and international consumption down, and the prices were observed to be falling consistently during the last quarter.

North America

The economic struggles of the American markets in the early months of the year caused a situation of demand depreciation in the region, which in turn resulted in the accumulation of inventories. This compelled suppliers to keep the prices at the lower levels to promote a positive product movement. So, despite a rise in the feedstock crude oil prices in the third quarter, the market prices could not rise. A downfall in the upstream costs during the fourth quarter further added to the market struggle as the price trend wavered at the lower level during the last quarter as well.

Analyst Insight

According to Procurement Resource, the Propanol price trend is not likely to show any significant improvements going forward in the next quarter. Given the supply still exceeds the demand price outlook still looks questionable.
 

Propanol Price Trend for the First Half of 2023

Asia

Propanol prices fluctuated throughout the said period in the Asian market. Prices started high as the market demands from downstream chemical and metallurgical industries were high. But as the supplies started overflowing and the demands depleted, the propanol prices started falling at the end of the first quarter and continued to fall for the rest of the concerned period. Feeble demands and high stockpiles resulted in these falling price trend of Propanol in later H1.

Europe

European market struggled badly with skyrocketing inflation because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Industries downsized, and upstream costs became unsustainable as the energy and fuel prices flung. All sectors suffered as a severe cost of living crisis unfolded.

These events hampered all the industrial sectors, but the manufacturing and construction sectors were affected badly. As the downstream industries struggled, it barely posed any demands for Propanol. The already lying product in the inventories could not be moved, so the new supplies were out of the question. As the market struggled with feeble demands and low activity, bearish trade sentiments were observed around Propanol during H1’23.

North America

The North American Propanol market closely followed the European market trend and remained low swinging owing to the decreased demands and rising product availability. American industries were not struggling as badly, but whatever limited demands were registered were nullified by overstocked inventories and declining upstream costs, given the supply chain and freight normalization. Overall, dull market sentiments were observed.

Analyst insight

According to Procurement Resource, the price trend for Propanol are expected to behave in a similar fluctuating manner given the high inventories and bearish demand outlook.
 

Propanol Price Trend for the Second Half of 2022

Asia Pacific

Throughout the third quarter, the prices fell due to a combined effect of various factors. The Asian petrochemical industry suffered due to the decline in crude oil prices. Several manufacturing units were forced to close their production as low demand from the downstream industries and uncertainties in the energy market affected the market severely.

The initial months of the fourth quarter followed the previous quarter as the restrictions owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and low demand from end-user industries were persistent. The end of the quarter, however, gave a beam of hope as the prices started to follow an upward trajectory in December. This growth was attributed to the limited supply from the producer's end.

Europe

The patterns observed in the Asian-Pacific industry were reflected in the European market. The drop in domestic demand and an increase in energy production costs because of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict fueled the downward growth of prices. The region also saw a fall in feedstock price coupled with average production rates which led to the downfall in the prices in both the third and fourth quarters.

North America

The North American market tumbled throughout the third quarter as labour availability remained scarce and the crude oil crises continued to play a crucial role in the market dynamics during the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the feedstock ethylene saw a price drop as a result of the reduced upstream crude oil prices along with laid-back demand from the end-user industries, which resulted in the downfall of the prices.

Analyst Insight

The prices of Propanol are likely to decrease during the coming months given the feeble trading dynamics amid rising volumes of products in the market and lowering offtakes.
 

Propanol Price Trend For the First Half of 2022

Asia

The economic downturn which resulted in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine caused unprecedented inflation in the fragile economies. The prices of crude oil soared due to the absence of precious cargo from the Black Sea and port congestions.

Owing to the high feedstock prices, power costs and supply shortages amid robust downstream demand, the prices of petrochemicals and thus propanol soared throughout the Asian market. The price of propanol averaged 1579 USD/MT ex-Delhi during the first quarter.

With the manufacturers not being able to sustain high input costs due to the low running rates and covid restrictions; passed the high prices to the consumers. However, these high prices proved detrimental to the market demand as the buyers baulked citing uncertain supply disruptions.

The price trend for propanol peaked during May but then soon began to tumble because of demand destruction. In the Chinese domestic market, the prices peaked in May averaging 8693 RMB/MT and then stabilized averaging 8242 RMB/MT in June 2022.

Europe

The European region faced the direct consequences of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The conflict triggered an acute energy crisis due to surging crude oil prices which reverberated across all sectors. The price of propanol averaged 2000 USD/MT FOB Rotterdam because of the solid demand from pharmaceutical and solvent extraction industries. The prices surged to an all-time high in the second quarter with the European embargo on Russian oil and western sanctions against SWIFT transactions from Russia.

North America

The US domestic market was not immune to the surging energy and transportation costs. The robust downstream demand amid labour shortages further caused the price trend for propanol to inflate. The price of propanol averaged 1475 USD/MT during the first few months of the said period. Despite the market volatility and supply uncertainty the propanol prices continued to rise.

Procurement Resource provides latest prices of Propanol. 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.