March 2024: Healthy Demand Pulls 2-Ethylhexanol Prices in USA

During the end of March 2024, domestic and export prices of 2 Ethylhexanol (2-EH) in US have increased by approximately 13%.

Despite prices of raw material Propylene witnessing a stability during the same time frame, the US  2-EH was largely driven by high demand from the downstream paints and coating and plasticizer industries from the well performing construction sector and the automotive sector. Despite major Propylene plants across the US having undergone a maintenance turnaround or force majeure such as Dow Chemical at Freeport, Texas and Cheverton Philips at Old Ocean, Texas, this did not affect the prices of the feedstock Propylene.

Increments in the prices of 2-EH are also attributed to the recent price hikes of USD 110/MT announced by Eastman Chemicals in a press release dated March 04, 2024, which were effective from March 15, 2024.  Providing support to the US 2-EH prices and the healthy demand of the automotive sector from the importing Canadian and Mexican markets.

Across the domestic US market, the automotive sector continued to expand throughout the opening quarter of 2024 as evidenced by another increment of more than 15% in the sales. Purchasing activities in the automotive were further augmented as US automotive manufacturers rushed to complete quarterly sales targets. Moreover, a strong demand in the US automotive sector is also evidenced as major manufacturers had anticipated a price reduction of 2-2.5% in the automotive segments which did not materialize, thereby further pressurizing the inventories of 2-EH.

Moreover, contributing to the demand for 2-EH was the well-performing construction sector. The number of houses under construction in the US increased by 0.3% in March 2024, with completions reaching 20.2% annually. US construction spending increased by 10.7% in February, with builder confidence remaining positive according to the US Department of Commerce. Home sales reached 4.38 million units, with single-family house sales increasing 10.3% and condominium sales up 2.5%. This indicates a positive demand for 2-EH from downstream paint and coating industries.

Moreover, demand of 2-EH from the automotive sector across importing Mexican and Canadian was also recorded to be healthy. This is evidenced by the continued improvements in the Mexican and Canadian automotive sales, which witnessed appreciations of approximately 23% and 17% respectively.

Overall prices of 2-EH are expected to increase as the demand from the US construction and automotive sector continue to expand. Moreover, increments in the prices of feedstock Propylene are also expected which is expected to add to the production costs of 2-EH.