Azithromycin API prices are beginning to follow an upward trajectory across the globe in the first quarter of 2023. The pharmaceutical industry depends on China for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), whereas the country was hit by the covid again in November 2022. As a result, key APIs have started to become costlier by the end of December amid possible supply disruptions that may squeeze margins and raise finished product prices.

As per the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) of China's manufacturing industry was 47 points in December, a decrease of 1.0% from November (i.e., 48), marking the fifth consecutive month of falls after a prolonged period of economic stagnation. The decline in production activities in December resulted in low stock levels of products among manufacturers in January. The covid situation in China is exploding, with hospitals running out of space and shortages of Azithromycin API inventories. However, supplies became erratic in January due to the Chinese New Year starting on 22nd January 2023. In the last couple of days, the price of the Azithromycin API in China has shown a surging behavior on the back of increasing demand.

Similarly, the increasing trend has been indicated in the German and US Azithromycin API prices. The countries followed the market of the primary manufacturer and exporter of this API, i.e., China. With a Covid spike, China manufacturers have raised their prices for domestic and international traders. The situation creates fear among German and US traders and triggers them regarding a possible shortage of supplies as traders are already left with limited inventories of Azithromycin API to meet the demand from end-user industries. Meanwhile, manufacturers from the pharmaceutical end-user industries searched the market for every available tonne of stock. However, the market's enormous demand-supply imbalance forced up the price of Azithromycin API.

According to the ChemAnalyst analysis, it is projected that Azithromycin API will rise in the upcoming month of 2023. Market players from other regions than Asia-pacific are expected to see a steady price rise of Azithromycin API. End-user producers will face a jump in input cost, which squeezes the margins for them and will impact the production of fresh orders and profitability.