Lacklustre Demand Drives Down Calcium Silicate Prices in Europe and Asia

The silicate market has been under pressure for the past few months, with prices falling at a steady pace. As per the latest data, Calcium Silicate prices have plummeted again during the first half of September 2022 in Asia and Europe. The price decline in Europe was primarily influenced by lacklustre demand, despite an exorbitant surge in natural gas prices.

As per the data, Germany's Calcium Silicate prices witnessed a decline of around USD 42/Mt (-2.6%) on CFR basis during the first half of September. Cheaper imports from Asia primarily drove this price decline amidst wavering Calcium Silicate demand in the German market. Since the Russia-Ukraine war escalated, the German market has been under the threat of a steep rise in inflation, which later turned into stagflation, and now standing on the cliff of recession.

Energy prices in Germany rose rigorously during August 2022 and now started easing in the market. However, under the influence of this price trend for Natural Gas in the German market, economic activities slowed, and demand plunged effectively for several commodities, including Calcium Silicate. Furthermore, the German government has also intimated that households may have to pay an annual energy surcharge to battle the current energy crisis.

On the other side, Asia has also remained cautious about demand fundamentals, as China is still moving forward to implement further precautionary measures to battle another surge in pandemic cases in the country. Pandemic cases in China rose again during the previous month, and the government took the harsh decision of implementing pandemic restrictions in the country. Thus, as a consequence, demand did not get enough time to rebound, and economic activities remained slow. China's Calcium Silicate demand remained dull from the domestic construction sector, while the pharma industry worked well in the meantime. The data shows a decline of around USD -37/Mt (-3.7%) during this timeframe.

According to the ChemAnalyst analysis, Global Calcium Silicate prices might not rebound until September 2022. However, high energy values in Europe and an expected rebound in demand in Asia may change the Calcium Silicate pricing dynamics globally.