Heavy Aromatic Naphtha Solvent prices continued in an upward price trajectory across the North American and European regions while demonstrating mixed sentiments in Asia. China going down with Covid-19 lockdowns has threatened the Asian demand fundamentals this week. As of April 24, the Chinese Heavy Aromatic Naphtha Solvent prices dwindled more than 6 percent and lingered around USD 1091/MT, according to the ChemAnalyst database. In contrast, in India, prices witnessed an inclination of approximately 4 percent this month.

One of the main drivers for solvents is the growing demand for paints, coatings, inks, and metalworking across the global market. Also, the automotive and construction industries have had tremendous expansion in recent years, with growing technological advances. Besides paints and coatings, Heavy Aromatic Naphtha Solvent also has its application in lubrication, both of which are the driving factors propelling market growth worldwide.

However, the Asian economy is under pressure, with China struggling to curb its worst Covid outbreak. Despite the Zero-Covid policy, 51 deaths were reported on Sunday, while the cases exceeded 2600 per day. As a result, the terminal demand for aromatic solvents has become weak along with the transactions. The downstream market players were cautious about the procurement with a strong wait-and-see mood.

Meanwhile, the Indian market stayed buoyant this month with the rising Crude value. The Brent Crude traded at more than USD 111 per barrel last Monday, while the WTI crude hit USD 107.6 per barrel. Increased consumption from the Automotive sector has supported the uphill pricing trend in the domestic market.

As per ChemAnalyst, “the prices of Heavy Aromatic Naphtha Solvent in China may improve slightly in the coming weeks with the logistics recovering gradually, and demand is expected to be stable to firm in the regional market. While the prices are anticipated to continue upward rally in India, on the back of soaring upstream Crude value and healthy demand fundamentals from the downstream solvent sector.”