Isopropyl Alcohol Market Shows Gloomy Outlook at the End of Q1 2023

A slowdown in consumption from the downstream Isopropyl Alcohol industries has hindered its upward momentum across the Indian market. A decline in domestic demand from the end-user market further helps the manufacturers to opt for a production cut and prevent their profit margins. In late Q1 of 2023, Certain factors, such as weakened consumer interest and higher stockpiles, supported the current market trend of Isopropyl Alcohol.

In the domestic market of India, the prices of Isopropyl Alcohol have demonstrated a persistent decremented trend since February 2023. Moreover, the producers had enough raw materials to accommodate the overall end-use industries' demand. According to the market participants, the downstream purchasing activity from various pharmaceutical, chemical, and cosmetics industries witnessed was not excessive and therefore did not result in high-end quotations for Isopropyl Alcohol since the mid of the first quarter for various locations, including Ex-Mumbai, Ex-Kandla, and Ex-Delhi. Moreover, because of this, the major manufacturer and supplier of Isopropyl Alcohol in the Indian market, i.e., Deepak Fertilizers and Petrochemical and Deepak Phenolics Limited, a subsidiary of Deepak Fertilizers and Petrochemical, is likely to go under maintenance in the upcoming months. Moreover, the manufacturer is expected to focus on destocking their previous piled-up inventories until the demand from the downstream sector resumes. Although the existing stockpiles of Isopropyl Alcohol in the Indian domestic market were sufficient among the various retailers and suppliers, thus the prices of Isopropyl Alcohol demonstrated no major fluctuation until the end of the first quarter.

According to ChemAnalyst, "the price realizations of Isopropyl Alcohol in the Indian Market are expected to increase in the forthcoming months. This market trend is likely to be supported by a resumption in domestic demand, a rise in transportation cost, and constrained supplies owing to the slowdown in production activity, which is projected to resume as the demand surges."