Silicates Price Trend and Forecast

Silicates Regional Price Overview

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

Silicates Price Trend for the Second Half of 2023

Asia

The third quarter of 2023 witnessed changing supply and demand dynamics of silicates, particularly in China. The dull outlook of construction industries and declining economic conditions also favored the southward movement of silicate prices during the initial phase.
 

Silicates Price Chart

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The market trend then changed as the excessive rainfall during monsoon induced supply disturbances, leading to an uptrend in the market momentum. However, in the fourth quarter market situation was altered by the slow economic growth of China, reflected in the market activities of the construction and automotive sectors. While the Chinese market struggled to sustain itself, the Indian market remained resilient, and thus, the prices of silicates were stagnant throughout H2’23.

Europe

Similar to the Asian countries, the European countries also slid southwards during the initial half of the third quarter. Inflationary pressure and dullness in the construction sector were the primary causes of this downturn. However, as the quarter progressed, the market gradually recovered as overseas queries rose and stabilized the prices of silicates. During the fourth quarter, the market trend was further supported by the rising logistical challenges, port congestion issues, and labor strikes. A slight relief from the inflationary pressure also favored the uptrend in the pricing patterns of silicates during the second half of 2023.

North America

In North America, the market situation diverged from global trends, with prices of silicates consistently decreasing for the majority of the period. The third quarter witnessed a continuous decline in prices, but a shift towards caution among suppliers in the latter quarter helped stabilize prices to some extent. Despite this stabilization, market dynamics remained weak throughout much of the period, majorly caused by the frail outlook of the downstream and feedstock industries. Additionally, low water levels in trade significant rivers and high fuel costs asserted a negative influence on trading activities, lowering the export profit margin.

Analyst Insight

According to Procurement Resource, the prices of Silicates are expected to remain stable in the forthcoming quarters under the influence of persistent supply chain disturbances, uncertainty in the feedstock markets, and stable demand.
 

Silicates Price Trend for the First Half of 2023

Asia

Silicates Price trend rally behind its feedstock commodities, namely silica and soda ash. As Silicates are majorly consumed by the glass, ceramics, and construction sectors, prices mostly fluctuated as per demands from these sectors in H1 2023. As the construction sector was restricted because of Covid 19 lockdown for a very long time in China, demands were almost absent, and inventories were filled with unused products.

The beginning of a market revival in Q1 2023 caused some movement in the Silicates market, but as the upstream costs got support from reduced feedstock and freight prices, the rise in offtakes couldn’t make much impact. And as the second quarter arrived, prices started declining again as the inventories could easily cater to existing market demands. Overall, low swinging price trend for Silicates were observed throughout the said period.

Europe

In the European Silicates market, it was a decline in purchasing power and downsizing of the construction business that caused the Silicates prices to waver at the lower end. As the European economies struggled with mounting inflation and recession caused by skyrocketed fuel and energy prices coupled with supply chain disruptions, the spending behavior of the European people totally changed.

People spent more on necessary items, and industries such as glass and ceramics took a backseat. Even though the situation had already started improving at the beginning of 2023, the buyers were still hesitant and cautious with expenditures. However, the Silicates market exhibited occasional enthusiasm, which led to some upward fluctuations, mostly the demands laid low, keeping the price trend at bay with them.

North America

The North American Silicates market exhibited mixed market behavior during the said period. Prices were still stable in the first quarter but mostly remained low, oscillating in the second quarter. These fluctuations, like the global market, were driven by downstream demands and market consumption. Overall, fluctuating market sentiments were observed.

Analyst insight

According to Procurement Resource, the Silicates prices will undergo oscillations in the coming quarter as the market will strive for stability given the current unbalanced supply-demand dynamics.

Procurement Resource provides latest prices of Silicates. 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.