Market Updates Following BASF Force Majeure

This week we’re covering 3 key products impacted by the August 7th fire at a BASF plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany. Following the incident, BASF declared a force majeure on the supply of alcoholate products – specifically sodium methylate, potassium methylate and sodium ethylate solutions and crystals – used as intermediates in a number of feed ingredients. Sodium methylate is a precursor in the production of Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, and Canthaxanthin. Supply issues are expected to persist for several months.

On the demand side, we tracked some increased interest (users who follow these products received a unique activity alert last week) but have yet to see the ripples manifest in prices. The global average price of Vitamin A1000 has decreased by 0.3% in the last month. A year ago, the price of Vitamin A stood at 94.82 USD/KG. The global price of Canthaxanthin has remained steady over the last month, though the global price decreased by 27% in the last year. Among the three products, the greatest price decrease was with Vitamin B1 Mono at 3.3% in the last month. A year ago, the price of Vitamin B1 stood at 19 USD/KG.

While the ripples are not yet evident, a force majeure often pushes contract buyers into the spot market. This further reduces spot availability and impacts price. We’ll be waiting to see what happens in the coming weeks, and encourage our users to watch these products closely.