Multiple headwinds hitting developed and developing economies, from soaring inflation and a surging dollar to central bank interest-rate hikes, have affected the price dynamics of several chemicals and their derivatives, including Detergent Alcohol. However, manufacturing units in Europe and Southeast Asia are also scaling back production. China’s economic slowdown is also cutting into import demand, with companies in Asia and Europe seeing weaker growth or declines in orders from Chinese companies.

The ChemAnalyst Database shows that the price trend of Detergent Alcohol has demonstrated a downtrend in the last week of the Q3 of FY2022. Detergent Alcohol prices have plummeted by approximately 1.8% in the UK, Germany, and Indonesia. The oversupply of upstream Palm Oil from key exporting countries, Indonesia and Malaysia, has impacted the production costs of Detergent Alcohol across the regional markets. The downstream purchases from the detergent and surfactant industries remained general, and the market has grown slower than expected. Moreover, in India, the government reduced the base import prices of upstream palm oil last Friday, pressuring the market sentiments toward Detergent Alcohol in the domestic region.

On the input cost front, crude oil surged to nearly $82 a barrel, indicating that the OPEC+ alliance is considering cutting production by more than 1 million barrels a day to revive plunging prices. However, the decision will only be implemented after the meeting of OPEC+ delegates scheduled for this Wednesday. In addition, foreseeing the rise in natural gas prices across Europe, one of the world’s leading shipping companies, Maersk, will commence slowing the pace of its container ships to lower fuel costs, stated the Chief Executive Officer last week.

Furthermore, the strike at Felixstowe, which accounts for almost half of the UK’s container trade, will continue until October 5, 2022, disrupting the port operations. Moreover, the risk to manufacturing, agriculture, and distribution sectors has rapidly intensified as powerful Hurricane Ian aims at the southwest coast of Florida. 

As per ChemAnalyst, the price trend of Detergent Alcohol will remain under pressure amidst the overflowing inventories of upstream raw materials and waning consumer demand. In addition, the unfavorable weather events due to hurricanes in the USA will likely hamper the trade movement of Detergent Alcohol in the near term.