German Tertiary Butyl Alcohol Prices Face Downturn Amidst Sluggish Demand and Economic Challenges

Hamburg, Germany: German Tertiary Butyl Alcohol prices have declined in November and the prices have been diping week-on-week. Weak demand, poor macroeconomic situation, fluctuating input costs, geopolitical tensions, and a range of factors have influenced the market sentiments of Tertiary Butyl Alcohol.

Many of Europe's largest chemical makers, including the German businesses BASF, Covestro, Evonik Industries, and Lanxess, have reported declining third-quarter sales and net losses. Europe's chemical industry is now fully in cost-cutting mode, with several businesses disowning manufacturing units due to persistently low demand for their goods.

The inquiries for Tertiary Butyl Alcohol from the downstream market such as solvents, chemical intermediates, and extractants in cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries have remained poor whereas, the domestic inventories of Tertiary Butyl Alcohol were noted to be at the higher end.

Additionally, due to the low offtake, the inventories for Tertiary Butyl Alcohol were high, leading to an oversupply condition in the domestic markets. Moreover, limited market transactions were registered in the domestic market whereas, the vendor’s performance improved amid minimal trading activities in the region. Thus, there was pessimistic impact on the Tertiary Butyl Alcohol prices. 

According to the most recent Eurostat statistics, European chemical production declined in September, but at a slower rate than overall industrial output. Normally, activity comes up after the summer pause, but in Europe, sluggish demand for Tertiary Butyl Alcohol has dominated attitude, and high energy prices have pushed manufacturers to reduce run rates for much of this year.

According to the analysts, 48% of German chemical businesses indicated in October that their demand situation remains tense and one of the major issues is that German power costs continue to be higher than in many other nations due to which, the manufacturing costs are running on a higher note.

Overall industrial production in the eurozone declined by 1.1% in September 2023 and 0.9% in the European Union, reversing a 0.6% rise in both areas in August 2023. Because of the weak macroeconomic circumstances in the region, outputs from the chemicals industry were much lower in September 2023 compared to September 2022.

According to the ChemAnalyst pricing intelligence, the price of Tertiary Butyl Alcohol is anticipated to demonstrate further decline through the fourth quarter of this year. With consumers providing little pause, the eurozone's near-term outlook remains bleak. Following a 0.1% decrease in GDP in the third quarter, output is predicted to be interrupted in the fourth quarter, with increased chances of another contraction and modest quarterly growth rates through 2024.