Naphthalene prices continued to be flat in the German market. The prices continued to be flat for past few weeks reflecting the overall stability in the market conditions. The broad trend in the market was bearish while the current market dynamics continued to be stable. Naphthalene market is closely linked to the phthalic anhydride market as well as upstream crude oil and coal market. While the crude oil prices continued to witness varying trends, the prices of Naphthalene remained stable in the last week of the year.

The previous weeks witnessed stability in the Naphthalene market. On the demand side, the Phthalic anhydride production market remained steady with steady production activities and steady downstream demand. As the demand continued to be steady with efficient management of inventories, the prices of Naphthalene remained stable in the market. The stagnant business sentiment was caused due to continued pressure on the industries as many industries have been squeezed by high costs of energy, materials, and labour. The construction sector predicts that new residential construction in Germany may decrease further in the upcoming year. With the decline in demand from construction sector, the demand for Naphthalene remained weak with sufficient supply dynamics leading to steady prices.

Thus, the stability in Naphthalene prices was primarily driven by the controlled demand from key sectors like phthalic anhydride production, alongside careful management of inventories in the face of economic uncertainty. While the demand from the construction sector weakened, it was counterbalanced by the stable supply, preventing significant fluctuations in Naphthalene pricing. Going forward, however, the continued pressures on businesses and industries could present challenges to maintaining this stability in the future.

In the supply side and upstream market, the crude oil prices witnessed slight gains in the week. The gains were driven by expectations of economic stimulus measures in China which is expected to rejuvenate the demand. According to the recent data, The American Petroleum Institute reported a drawdown of 3.2 million barrels in U.S oil inventories for the previous week which surpassed the market expectations.

Key players and business leaders across the German economy anticipated concerns over expected fall in employment levels in sectors like Chemicals and automobiles as well as machine production, construction, and metalworking. The economic conditions and business sentiment in the key downstream sectors for Naphthalene remained gloomy. The gloomy sentiment is expected to be continued in the New year two months before an early election in which the Germany’s economic malaise is expected to play a major role. As the market sentiment is not expected to improve, the prices can be expected to remain flat or decline in the coming weeks.