Strong Consumer Demand Infuses Optimism into the January Price Trends of US Detergent Alcohols

The US Detergent Alcohol market, which showed consolidation in the last month, has been witnessed to have gained strength over a month which is evident from the hike of over 4% in the last week’s assessed prices that hovered around USD 2634/MT DEL Louisiana.

The Detergent Alcohol market, after gaining momentum from the closing-December festive slumber, got burdened with an abrupt surge in the number of enquiries from the downstream cleaning and surfactant industries. The surge in contracts followed the increased panic-buying of cleaning agents among the domestic customers as hygiene practices got prioritized at every house and industry in the wake of the pandemic impacts which gradually turned nasty.

However, the ongoing market sentiments are not favorable for suppliers who are struggling to cater to the optimistic demand with low inventory levels. Weaker palm oil production, Indonesian biodiesel demand, and late December Malaysian floods have restricted the palm oil supplies in these countries itself, causing the output to falter drastically, eventually resulting in dipping of import volumes of the USA. Furthermore, the traders were heard complaining about logistical breakdown with the increasing Omicron cases. Hence, the spot market was seen gripped with the pressure from spike in the prices of all detergent alcohols, particularly mid-cut alcohols.

As per ChemAnalyst, the upcoming weeks will be mirroring the ongoing market sentiments fuelled by the still-at-large Omicron impact in the country. Though, the import volumes from Malaysia are expected to improve in the coming weeks, the Covid-induced transport restrictions are anticipated to keep the Detergent Alcohol supplies constrained. The Omicron spurred higher consumption of detergents is expected to maintain consistency in offtakes to the downstream sectors. Hence, the market in the coming month is expected to stay pressurized with the only hope of relief that could come with the recede in Omicron cases in the country.