US Acetonitrile Prices Weigh Down Due to Feeble Offtakes

FOB Texas: The prices of Acetonitrile continued to decline this month due to weak downstream demand, affected import momentum from China, soaring high inflation, and escalating energy prices in the USA and Germany. Higher amounts of inventories from local merchants were left in the domestic market.

In the USA, Acetonitrile prices dropped due to falling imports in August, which positively supported its market sentiments. Additionally, the demand observed was weak from the consumer's side, and repeated closures of Chinese cities to fight the virus outbreaks have weighed on USA traders' willingness to put down the quotations for the downstream products. Moreover, rising energy values have been another primary concern, eventually impacting trading activities because of dwindling production behaviors. Further, as inflation increased, the purchasing power of customers diminished significantly because, over time, as inflation rose, the dollar value declined, and consumers were forced to spend more for the same goods and services.

On the other hand, lightening customers' buying tendency has forced the contractors and suppliers to reduce their prices to maintain a balanced supply-demand side and destock the piled-up of inventories in the domestic market. The upstream Acetic Acid and Ammonia prices continued to decline in the US, keeping the downstream Acetonitrile prices on the weaker side. According to USA traders, in the future, Acetonitrile prices might also fall with decreasing freight costs from the APAC region, especially in the import sector. With this, overall prices for Acetonitrile in the North American region, primarily in the United States, demonstrated a decline of 4.97 percent and will continue to fall.

According to ChemAnalyst, "Prices for Acetonitrile are likely to follow the downward trend in the USA market in forthcoming months on the back of dwindling downstream demand. Trading momentum from China might witness a decremented trend in the future, leading to stockpiling cargo at the ports. Furthermore, the upstream values might remain on the weaker side and are expected to support Acetonitrile's market sentiments further.