Erucic Acid Market to Witness Growth in Europe From January 2023

The demand for Erucic Acid in Europe, particularly Germany, will increase due to its functional properties. The Erucic Acid market is driven by demand and rapeseed oil costs at present. However, demand is expected to grow in January 2023.

Erucic Acid prices have been coming down for a while, as downstream companies did not come up with more procurement orders for this product because of various issues shaped by the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, like growth in energy costs, uncertainties in current supply, etc.

The growth in this market would be attributed to several factors, including low prices of rapeseed oil due to lower-than-average yields from previous seasons, high levels of inventories being held by processors, and rising interest among consumers for plant-based oils over animal-based oils. Prices of Erucic Acid are expected to remain relatively flat throughout this year due to these factors but are forecasted to increase substantially from January 2023, when inventories start to run low again, and supply cannot keep up with demand due to lower-than-average yields from upcoming seasons.

The demand for Erucic Acid will also increase due to its use as an antioxidant in food products like processed meats and other foods with long shelf life, such as frozen foods. ChemAnalyst expects this trend to expand from January 2023 because of rising consumer awareness about the health benefits of consuming antioxidants on a daily basis.

In addition to being used in Personal Care products such as hair conditioners, shampoos, etc., Erucic Acid is also utilized as an additive for animal feed due to its beneficial properties such as reducing oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids in animals' bloodstream, which results in improved milk yield for dairy farmers. It also helps reduce rancidity in fats during storage periods by acting as an antioxidant agent. Hence, Erucic Acid will likely attract more interest from animal feedstock industries in the upcoming year.

As per the observations by ChemAnalyst, the average cost of Erucic Acid in November 2022 was about USD 5,700-5,800 per MT on FD-Hamburg, and the firm expects the price to drop further in December 2022 and grow by almost 2% per MT in January 2023.