Strong Demand Lifts Heavy Aromatic Naphtha Solvent Price in Asia
- 16-May-2022 3:32 PM
- Journalist: Patrick Knight
Delhi NCR, India: According to the latest monitoring data of ChemAnalyst, the Heavy Aromatic Naphtha Solvent market is taking support from soaring demand for olefins and aromatics in Asia. Also, fluctuating Crude oil value on the back of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has led to inflation of the already high solvent prices.
Our sources revealed that the Heavy Aromatic Naphtha Solvent prices are driven by the extensive consumption from the downstream paints and coatings industry in the Asian regional market.
A Mumbai-based trader quoted that the domestic players have been dealing with increasing cost pressure since February. The market is still being dominated by concerns about tight global crude oil supply in the future. He said that the increased raw material and higher petroleum feedstock prices gradually added to the solvent's uphill pricing.
Meanwhile, the European Union has considered imposing a phased oil ban on Russia. Fears of tightening supplies loomed, constraining the fall in Crude oil prices.
ChemAnalyst interviewed Kazuhiko Saito, a chief analyst at Fujitomi Securities Co Ltd., Mr. Saito quoted that the Crude oil markets are likely to gain again this week as an expected ban by the EU on Russian oil will further squeeze global supplies of crude and fuels.
After Friday's fall, the Brent futures rebounded and traded at 109 US Dollars per barrel, while the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude prices reached USD 108 per barrel on Monday morning.
Thus, according to the ChemAnalyst Database, the offers for Heavy Aromatic Naphtha Solvent witnessed an increment of 4-5 percent across the regional market.
Additionally, in India, power demand is surging due to unprecedented heat levels in the region. With the hottest spring months in decades, India's electricity consumption skyrocketed to 135 billion kWh during the previous month. Consequently, there were severe power outages as supply fell 2.4 billion units short of demand, indirectly influencing domestic manufacturers.
As per ChemAnalyst, "Heavy Aromatic Naphtha Solvent prices are expected to stay buoyant in the upcoming weeks due to the robust demand from the paints and coatings sector. To summarize, soaring upstream on account of the Russia-Ukraine crisis might further impact the prices in the Asian market."
