Fatty Acid - C12 Price Trend and Forecast

Regional Price Overview

Get the latest insights on price movement and trend analysis of Fatty Acid - C12 in different regions across the world (Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa).

Fatty Acid - C12 Price Trend for the Second Half of 2023

Fatty acid - C12 prices were observed to be fluctuating throughout the said period of H2’23. Since the lipolytic and hydrolytic splitting of natural oils like palm oils and coconut oil is employed to manufacture fatty acid - C12, their market behavior is very closely reflected in the fatty acid - C12 price trend as well.

Fatty Acid - C12 Price Chart

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During the early months of Q3, the downstream demands were tepid, and the oil exporting nations of Malaysia and Indonesia were experiencing a supply surplus, thus the fatty acid - C12 prices fell marginally. However, the shipping industry faced such difficult issues during this time affecting the market sentiments. So, with occasional dips and surges the fatty acid - C12 price graph oscillated for the entire discussed period. Overall, mixed market sentiments were witnessed.

Analyst Insight

According to Procurement Resource, the Fatty Acid - C12 price trends are likely to uptick again in the coming months as the inventories move and the consumption rises.

Fatty Acid - C12 Price Trend for the First Half of 2023

Fatty Acid - C12 or Lauric Acid experienced mixed price trend during the first half of the year 2023. Contrary to the previous quarter, the market started strongly at the beginning of the first quarter, registering an inclination in January’23.

But soon, the dull demands took over and reversed the market’s momentum. During this time, upstream cost support also declined significantly because of normalized crude oil and energy prices. So Fatty Acid - C12 prices were observed to be low swinging for a majority of the discussed period.

Analyst Insight

According to Procurement Resource, given the gap in the supply and demand dynamics, the price trend for Fatty Acid - C12 are projected to remain fluctuating in the upcoming months.

Fatty Acid - C12 Price Trend for the Second Half of 2022

Fatty Acid - C12 or Lauric Acid is a twelve-carbon fatty acid used in making soaps, surfactants, dyes, rubbers, plastics, lubricants, cosmetics, etc. As these fatty acids are sourced from coconut oil and palm kernel oil, their price trend closely align.

During the second half of the year 2022, Fatty Acid - C12 mostly roamed at the lower end of the price curve because of the low demands from the downstream and consumption sectors. The end of the final quarter observed some recovery, but the market sentiments were generally negative.

Analyst Insight

According to Procurement Resource, the Fatty Acid - C12 prices are expected to behave in a similar manner owing to overstocked inventories and bleak demands.

Fatty Acid - C12 Price Trend for the First Half of 2022

Fatty Acid C12 or Lauric acid is extracted from palm oil, coconut oil and bay leaves. Hence, market supply and prices of these essential feedstocks govern the price trend for fatty acid C12/ lauric acid.

During the first quarter, the international prices of oils skyrocketed due to the absence of precious sunflower oil from the Black Sea owing to the continuing Russia-Ukrainian conflict. With sunflower oil out of the picture, the attention shifted towards soybean and palm oil. The strong market demand amid complex logistics further affected the market supply.

The Indonesian government imposing a ban on the export of palm oil citing domestic reasons, strained the supply of palm oil. The coconut oil supplies were under pressure due to the lousy harvest in Malaysia and the Philippines due to adverse climatic conditions.

Hence, these inflated feedstock prices directly affected the prices of lauric acid. The price of lauric acid went from 14,500 RMB/MT to 19,000 RMB/MT towards the end of the first quarter. However, the prices relaxed in the second quarter as the Indonesian government lifted the export ban and  the market demand subsided. The prices of lauric acid went from 16,500 RMB/MT to 9800 RMB/MT towards the end of the second quarter.

Fatty Acid - C12 Price Trend for the Fourth Quarter of 2021

Asia

The Asian fatty acid market has showed bullishness as a result of good palm oil feedstock performance in the world market, owing to low palm oil output in Indonesia and Malaysia. Due to logistical constraints and inflationary pressure on fatty acid costs, trading offers in India remained firm. Poor feedstock supply and production constraints caused by China's Dual Control Policy prompted manufacturing units including Jiangsu Shengtai (80 KTPA capacity) and Deyuan Gaoke (100 KTPA capacity) to temporarily shut down.

Several production facilities ran out of mid-cut fatty alcohols for much of the quarter, raising the country's import demand. Demand from the detergent and personal care industries revealed issues, despite downstream buyers submitting acceptable requests for the product amid market confidence. Fatty acid prices in India were hovering around 1,130 USD/MT. Fatty acid prices in China settled at 3440 USD/MT on a FOB basis in December, ex-Ahmedabad.

Europe

The European fatty acid market remained positive in Q4-2021, despite surprisingly high input costs. Input costs continued to rise as a result of a global lack of palm oil feedstock, delivery delays, and astronomically high energy prices. Port container constraints and movement limitations imposed as a result of the escalating number of Omicron cases in the region further impeded spot trade activities.

Germany, which was one of the most hit by the recurrence of Covid instances, saw a considerable increase in soap and detergent use, resulting in an increase in downstream industry inquiries for Fatty Acid and boosting manufacturers' confidence in delivering steady contract rates.

Increased market restrictions afflicted the downstream sectors' Fatty Acid supply dynamics towards the end of the quarter, resulting in prices hitting their highest levels of the year in December, ending at 4080 USD/MT FOB. The demand for personal care products also contributed to escalating cost trend.

North America

Fatty acid prices hit an all-time high in October, boosted by increased palm oil feedstock prices on the international market and limited supply due to Asian country vessel delays. Manufacturers' misery was heightened in the initial weeks of the quarter by a shortage of trucks for delivering consignments to downstream industries, in addition to high input costs.

Demand fundamentals in the downstream personal care and detergents categories, on the other hand, were predicted to outstrip supply. However, a minor decline in palm oil prices in the closing months of the year, owing to improved port movements and cheaper freight rates, limited fatty acid pricing in the North American region.

Bearishness rose in the closing days of December, as fatty acid prices fell to 1760 USD/MT DEL, owing to little downstream activity during the Christmas and New Year vacations, which resulted in a decline in demand.

Procurement Resource provides latest prices of Fatty Acid - C12. 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.