Sufficient Supply and Lack Of Demand to Keep Choline Chloride Prices Soft in March 2023
- 21-Mar-2023 6:35 PM
- Journalist: Jung Hoon
From the onset of March 2023, Choline Chloride is continued to follow a decreasing price trajectory in the Asian and North American regions due to sluggish market sentiments for the product. Supply exceeds demand as there remains ample stock available in hand. Also, reducing demand keeps downward pressure on Choline Chloride prices along with softening buying activity from the end-user industries in both regions.
In China, Choline Chloride prices decreased by 9.2% in February 2023, backed by diminished demand and sufficient supply in the market. Also, the production cost of Choline Chloride was reduced because of a drop in raw material Trimethylamine prices, resulting in a downward price trend in the Chinese domestic market. China's market condition improved after the resolution of the COVID policy and supply chain disputes, but the general weakness in consumer confidence is still noticeable. The recovery in demand is not seen as expected, and because of this, Choline Chloride producers will decrease their prices further by the end of March 2023. Despite the dip in pricing, no active transactions are observed in the market. Even the inquiries from end-user pharmaceutical and food industries are low, as they already have adequate inventories to satisfy the client's immediate demand.
In the North American region, the Choline Chloride market has continued to slump. The price of Choline Chloride fell by 2.2% in February in the United States and will stay at a lower level till the end of Q1 2023. Being the importing country of Choline Chloride, the United States follows almost the same pricing trend as China. Also, the drop in import quotations from Chinese suppliers makes purchases affordable to US buyers. In addition, freight rates are also falling for shipping containers from China to the US coasts. With ease in supply chain strains, Choline Chloride remains well supplied in the US domestic market, with sufficient stocks to fulfill the downstream demand. Meanwhile, orders are lower than anticipated as end-user purchasers attain a wait-and-see attitude toward the price trend.
According to the ChemAnalyst team, Choline Chloride prices are likely to showcase an improvement in the global market. The first wave of demand for Choline Chloride is expected in early to mid-April, and early purchase is recommended.