Alum Price Trend and Forecast

Regional Price Overview

Get the latest insights on price movement and trend analysis of Alum in different regions across the world (Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa).

Alum Price Trend for the Second Half of 2023

Alum prices were observed to be fluctuating throughout the said period of the second half of the year 2023. The prices for these hydrated double sulfate salts primarily followed the market behavior of the feedstock materials like aluminium sulfate and potassium sulfates.

Along with this, the market demands from various consuming sectors like the cleaning industry, paper industry, chemical industries, etc., also influenced the fluctuations in the alum market. Globally, the market performance was comparatively better in the third quarter than in the fourth quarter.

Though dull, the product movement was significantly better in the third quarter as the economic condition of various regions was just stabilizing and offering more industrial demands. However, the slumping trends in the fourth quarter were primarily attributed to the supply chain curtailments caused by various geopolitical disturbances at the time. Overall, mixed market behavior was witnessed.

Analyst Insight

According to Procurement Resource, the Alum price trends are likely to behave in a similar manner going forward; the existing inventory stocks will create some issues for suppliers.

Alum Price Trend for the First Half of 2023

Alum is a combination of aluminium and other metals and sulfates with attached water molecules. The price trend of alum was supported by the ease of COVID-related restrictions in China and the surge in market activities. In addition to this, the demand sector also started improving, especially in the Asia Pacific region, as the consumption rates grew by almost 5%.

However, in Europe, the prices of alum declined in the first two quarters as the market was affected by the slowdown in economic activities and low inquiries from Chinese markets. The Asia Pacific region regained its momentum after a long stretch of stagnancy due to the COVID-19 and lunar holiday season. In addition to this, the output growth also suffered from the hike in energy production costs. However, the availability of the product in the market was reduced due to sanctions on trade with Russia, which had a positive influence on the alum price trend.

Analyst Insight

According to Procurement Resources, the price trend of Alum is estimated to incline in the upcoming quarters, supported by the rising demand and improving market conditions.

Alum Price Trend for the Second Half of 2022

Owing to the falling prices of feedstock potassium sulfate and aluminium sulfate the price trend for alum remained weak throughout the said period. In China, due to the poor demand and reduced offtakes, the price of potassium sulfate averaged 5100 RMB/MT ( approx.) in August’22.

With government-mandated power rationing guidelines to combat heatwaves, industrial production fell. In September’22 the price of potassium sulfate averaged 4600 RMB/MT (approx.). The same trend continued in the fourth quarter, however towards the end, the enquiries increased. Moreover, the market was mainly wait-and-see.

India, one of the world’s biggest potash importers, is facing demand destruction due to high prices and the loss of critical supplies from Belarus and Russia. The situation between Russia and Ukraine is far from over, hence it will continue to impact the global fertilizer market. In India, the potash consumption fell by 50% in five months through August from a year earlier while the NPK consumption fell 20% over the same period.

Analyst Insight

The global fertilizer supply continues to show a rebound from the turmoil seen in the markets last year.  The price trend for alum are likely to increase in the coming months as the market offtakes and enquiries are rising.

Alum Price Trend for the First Half of 2022

Asia

The primary feedstock required for the commercial production of Alum is aluminium sulfate and potassium sulfate. The prices of potassium sulfate remained strong in the Chinese domestic market despite the trade restrictions and surging prices. The feedstock potassium sulfate prices averaged around 4333.33-5050 RMB/MT in the Chinese market during the year's first half.

These higher prices were due to the heated potash fertilizer market. With the tight supply and the rising demand from buyers owing to the winter storage, the prices remained heightened throughout. These inflated prices affected the price trend of Alum, tipping the scales to the higher side.

Europe

Since Russia and Belarus are the key players in the fertilizer market, retaliatory sanctions against them opposing trade negatively impacted the European markets. With the farming season in full swing, the demand for potash hit an all-time high, and hence the prices of potassium sulfate increased. The European price trend were in line with their Asian counterpart.

North America

The price trend for Alum followed the same pattern as the global outlook. The continuing Russian-Ukrainian confrontations led to increased crude oil and natural gas prices with a looming threat of stagnation. However, the strong demand from the farming sector has kept the prices of feedstock potash afloat.

Procurement Resource provides latest prices of Alum. Each price database is tied to a user-friendly graphing tool dating back to 2014, which provides a range of functionalities: configuration of price series over user defined time period; comparison of product movements across countries; customisation of price currencies and unit; extraction of price data as excel files to be used offline.