Paints and Coating Industry in the U.S and Europe Face Surge in Solvent Prices

Limited availability of raw materials is causing a major challenge for the players indulged in the paint and coating market across the U.S. and Europe. Solvents is one of the various categories where prices of the products have seen a steep surge in the near term. A spate of factors including the sturdy global demand, consistent surge in oil values, container space shortage has created an upward pressure upon the prices of solvents in the US and Europe.

Several solvents have showcased a record-breaking increment in January with respect to the previous year. Acetone prices have surged by around 120%, n-Butyl Acetate by 90%, n-Butanol by 54% whereas Iso Propyl Alcohol (IPA) prices have jumped by nearly 40 percent in the European market. A major factor adhering to the sharp increment in Butyl Acetate prices is the force majeures declared at two of its global plants in December-January period. Likewise, several abrupt plant closures in Sweden, Singapore and China at the beginning of January have also affected its imports and supply chain in the European market. Bisphenol-A supplies have also heard of falling short in the global market as its bulk stock is being desired for manufacturing Polycarbonates amidst its significant demand.

Market is also concerned over shortage of pigments like yellow and red iron oxide as the container spacing issues are likely to delay the imports further. Moreover, due to trade disruption across various sea routes, shortage of polymer raw materials has also pressurized the production in packaging industry.

As per ChemAnalyst, “Since raw material costs and freight charges comprise majority of overall production cost, end-use industries like inks, paints and coatings are expected to remain under pressure in the near term.”