US Aniline prices remain steady amid deteriorating demand and supply crunch

For the past few weeks, the Aniline price trend has been stable in the USA as suppliers are not changing their quotations amid low demand-supply dynamics in the country. The supplies are tight from the Asian exporters, and simultaneously, the demand is low from the end-user industries.

The availability of Aniline stocks was inadequate and delayed from Asian exporters to the North American market. The supply rates experienced disruptions due to disturbances in the supply chain and heightened ship traffic along shipping routes, primarily attributed to attacks on vessels and oil tankers traversing the Red Sea in the Middle Eastern area.  Moreover, the drought at the Panama Canal and increased ship traffic on the Suez Canal further took time for Aniline supplies to reach the domestic market.

Meanwhile, the orders for Aniline fell slightly from buyers amid the high freight costs on imports of materials in the North American region. Meanwhile, the occurrence of Winter Storm Uri on 13th February 2024 in the Northern region negatively impacted the operating rates in the downstream industries, and the demand for Aniline decreased in the end-user industries. Consequently, the Aniline offtakes remained moderately low from the buyers. 

At the same time, in the producing country, the production rates of feedstock Benzene were impacted by the tight availability and delayed supplies from the Asian suppliers due to affected productions amid tight supplies of Crude Oil from Middle East exporters. Consequently, the operating rates at domestic production units remained moderately low and stressed the availability of supplies in the market. Meanwhile, cost support was stable from feedstock Nitric Acid during the week amid sluggish demand from agrochemical industries and adequate availability of supplies.

According to the ChemAnalyst data sources, the Aniline CFR Texas quotations in the USA witnessed USD 1645/MT in mid-February 2024.

As per the estimation, the Aniline quotations will increase from the Asian exporters in the North American region. The key reason is affliction in the production rates of producers amid the delay in the feedstock supplies due to supply chain disruption at global shipping routes. Additionally, the construction sector demand for Polyurethane materials will pick the pace in the second quarter of 2024, which will raise the demand for Polyurethane components. Consequently, the orders for Aniline will improve from the buyers due to the anticipated increase in consumption rates from Methylene Diphenyl Diisocyanate manufacturers. Meanwhile, the firm freight charges will further increase the final costs of Aniline in the North American market.