Cumene Price Trend and Forecast

Regional Price Overview

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

Cumene Price Trend for the First Half of 2023

Asia

Cumene observed mixed price trends throughout the first half of 2023. As the Chinese markets started opening after the lockdown restrictions, fresh demands from downstream plastic and paint industries boosted the market. These positive trends continued throughout the first quarter as procurement increased because of the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays. But as the stocks started piling up because of rampant supplies, the market sentiments started deviating. As the quarter shifted, the demands started decreasing, and the inventories started rising, causing the cumene price trends to decline. Overall, the first quarter witnessed a rise and the second quarter saw a decline in cumene prices.

Europe

In the European cumene market, similar market sentiments to the Asian market were observed. Prices ran high for most of the first quarter, owing to the increased trade activities and demands from the downstream industries as the supply chains and crude oil prices started stabilizing amidst the ongoing Russia – Ukraine conflict. These trends continued till mid-Q2, but as the inventories started rising and demands started declining, the cumene prices also started decreasing and stayed low, swinging till the end of June’23.

North America

Cumene prices rose in the first quarter in accordance with high market demands and good upstream cost support from the feedstock materials. But as the quarters shifted, the market sentiment reversed, and prices went downhill with lowered market offtakes. With a series of inclines and declines, the cumene market fluctuated throughout the first half of 2023.

Analyst insight

According to Procurement Resource, the Cumene market is expected to behave in a similar manner in the upcoming months, given the unsettled pricing fundamentals and market dynamics.

Cumene Price Trend for the Second Half of 2022

Asia

The prices of cumene kept on the lower side of the scale in the Asia-Pacific region during the said period. This fall was due to the weakening of crude oil prices and rising inflation in the region which deeply affected the demand fundamentals. The Asian currencies also took a major hit, and this impacted the demand for cumene in the domestic and international sectors. Many manufacturing units shut their production considering the new power rationing norms and high production costs. The downstream industries such as phenol and acetone saw a dip in their prices along with their demand, thereby affecting the overall price trends for cumene.

Europe

In the European region, the Russia-Ukraine conflict had serious implications for the commodities market. The lower cost support from the crude oil sector was somehow managed by the feedstock market but the declining demand had a negative impact on the cumene price trends.  The cheaper options from the Asian markets further affected domestic demand. Along with that, the doom of recession shadowed the region and led to a decline in cumene prices.

North America

The downward trend in the cumene prices was consistent in the North American region in both the third and fourth quarters of 2022. The rising inflation, decreased inquiries, and declining demand from the end-user industries severely affected the cumene market.

Analyst Insight

According to Procurement Resource, the price trends of cumene are expected to improve in the upcoming quarter given the steady improvement in the supply-demand dynamics. The demand is expected to turn positive in the coming months, however, it will be subject to occasional fluctuations.

Cumene Price Trend For the First Half of 2022

Asia

The price trends of Cumene remained strong throughout the Asian market during the first half of the said year. With the surging costs of crude oil and feedstock benzene and propylene amid the strong demand from automotive and chemical industries, the cumene prices increased in the domestic market.

However, a slight dip was seen in the prices because of the renewed production after removing covid restrictions, but soon the robust demand outmatched the supply and caused the prices to rise again. The cumene price averaged 1415 USD/MT in India, while feedstock benzene averaged 1410.58 USD/MT in China.

Europe

The staggering energy crisis unleashed in Europe owing to the Russia-Ukraine geopolitical confrontation caused the crude oil and natural gas prices to reach an all-time maximum. The feedstock benzene and propylene cost surged, averaging $1427/ton FOB Hamburg and 929.5 USD/MT CIF Northwest Europe, respectively. However, the prices stabilized towards the end of the second quarter as the upstream costs relaxed along with high-cost inflation and demand destruction.

North America

The US domestic market closely mimicked its European counterpart. The price trends of Cumene soared owing to the high crude oil prices, freight charges, labour shortages and trade bottlenecks. The cumene prices averaged 1240 USD/MT during the said period. The prices soared during the second quarter due to the solid downstream demand from phenol and acetone manufacturers.

Procurement Resource provides latest prices of Cumene. 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.