After some decent buying activity mid-April for lysine and threonine, the market turned quiet last week in most regions. Learn more in this week’s amino acids snapshot (week 18).
Some more activity can be seen now in Europe in some countries for Q3 and Q4, as there is a belief that prices will decrease further. Also Chinese suppliers have stopped offering – they have celebrated a few national holidays. Other amino acids like methionine, valine and tryptophan are not showing any activity.
Depending on the region, several buyers are looking to contract ahead into Q4. But at the same time there is also a wait-and-see attitude. Prices had become low and with the current exchange rate, stabilising container freight rate, and resistance from manufacturers to reduce the price further, buyers felt and feel momentum to do something. The price locally in the regions did increase a bit, also FOB China slightly, although Chinese suppliers are now not really offering any prices.
Prices FOB China remain at a firmer level. The market was quite active in the last weeks but feels calmer now again in most regions. Manufacturers have seen a declining market for over a year now and have started to increase prices in an attempt to move away from the low price level. This triggered late Q2 and early Q3 buying and now even some Q4 interest.
No changes reported, in a very quiet market. Slightly weaker spot prices are seen in some regions, but no significant changes compared to previous weeks. The methionine market is very quiet. Q2 has been contracted, and prices have stabilised at a relatively low level. Although, that said, a cent/kg of decline here and there is mentioned.
The overall tryptophan market is weaker as demand is still behind and there is ample supply. In China, but also in other regions like Europe and the USA, prices are slightly weakening. The market feels very quiet and is well contracted for Q2 and there are no signs of any interest for Q3 right now.
No significant changes are seen in the market. Availability for short-term is in some regions still tight, due to delays ex China and this has led to some additional buying. Prices are relatively stable in most regions until now. Q2 is contracted and a small overlap into Q3 as well.