Feeble Demand Holds Down the German Caprolactam Prices in February 2023

The price of Caprolactam observed a downward trend in February 2023 due to weak demand from the downstream Nylon6 industries. The demand for the Caprolactam market declined, and the buying activities saw bleak in the German market. The Caprolactam market in Germany dropped by 1.8% in February compared to January 2023, and it will continue in March. The Caprolactam market is expected to show a bearish trend throughout Quarter 1 of 2023.

For the ninth month in a row, the total amount of new work received from the downstream textile industry fell in February 2023. The contraction rate was only mild and the weakest during that sequence, indicating that the pattern was stabilizing. Businesses that reported lower new business intakes cited the cost-of-living crisis as well as lower export order intakes.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, energy costs have gone up a lot, which has had a big effect on the rate of inflation. Despite the government's efforts to alleviate the situation, energy product prices increased by 19.1% year-over-year in February 2023. In January 2023, the price of energy products increased by 23.1%; As a result, it slowed down a bit.

In February, the trend in new export business showed signs of resilience. Although new export orders fell for the 13th consecutive month, the rate of contraction slowed sharply to its slowest since March 2022. On the negative side, firms experienced significant intakes of new work from key markets such as the United States, mainland Europe, and China.

As per ChemAnalyst, the cost of Caprolactam hovered around USD 3281/MT on a FOB Hamburg basis during February 2023.

According to the expert, the cost of Caprolactam has anticipated a declining trend if the weak orders remain intact from domestic and overseas markets. It is also anticipated that the Caprolactam price is likely to decrease in March from approximately 1% to 1.5%.