German Acrylamide Prices Face Ongoing Decline Amidst Weak Demand and Industrial Crisis

Hamburg, Germany: Acrylamide prices in Germany have demonstrated a bearish outlook in November 2023. The prices of Acrylamide have been declining week-on-week this year, primarily influenced by weak demand from downstream industries such as water treatment. As per the current market scenario, a decline in the frequency of product procurement is attributed to reduced water consumption across various sectors. Acrylamide is prominently employed in flocculation, a wastewater treatment technique, and is also utilized in diverse industries, including paper and pulp, chemicals, petrochemicals, and textiles. Germany, suffering from a profound industrial crisis, has been one of Europe's poorest economies this year, as high energy costs, sluggish global orders, and increasing interest rates have taken their toll on the Acrylamide market.

The chemical sector in Europe, primarily Germany, has decisively shifted toward cost-cutting measures, leading some companies to shut down manufacturing plants due to sustained weak demand for their products, including Acrylamides. The chemical giants in the US have also suffered due to soft demand for Acrylamide amid low domestic consumption.

BASF, the world's largest chemical business, reported a $264 million loss for the third quarter, compared to $962 million in the previous year, and revenues of $16.2 billion, a 28% decrease. The German conglomerate blames significantly reduced pricing for items offered by its materials, chemicals such as Acrylamides, and surface technologies divisions, as well as decreased overall sales volumes in both local and foreign markets.

Chemical firms in other parts of the European Union are also struggling with weak demand. Solvay, a Belgian company, reported a 24% reduction in third-quarter revenues to $2.9 billion, whereas the earnings dropped 33% to $360 million.

Additionally, the value of exports and imports in the European Union continued to decline in the third quarter of this year. In the third quarter of 2023, EU imports and exports fell by 4.6% and 1.2%, respectively, resulting in a surplus in the EU's trade balance of roughly €18 billion. The most recent surplus occurred in the third quarter of 2021 (€6.9 billion). Between the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2023, rising energy costs generated a huge trade deficit that overshadowed surpluses in other product categories.

According to the ChemAnalyst database, the prices of Acrylamide are anticipated to decline further in the upcoming weeks. As per the industry experts, weak demand conditions in the Acrylamide market are also expected to continue in the first quarter of 2024.