Global amino acids a wait and see market, while vitamin B3 firmer in China

Threonine has become quiet in most regions. Suppliers are still trying to increase prices further, but buyers are reluctant to pay more until now. Some methionine supplies are trying to have buyers contract Q4, but there is resistance amongst buyers. Especially as spot prices are weakening in for example Europe.

Despite quite a lot of speculation prior to the event, no significant news or strategic directions were communicated and/or initiated about vitamins at the CPHI exhibition that was held last week in Shanghai. The only noticeable market activity that is seen/mentioned is around vitamin B2, B3 and eyes are on d-calpan. Apart from that, the vitamin market is extremely quiet.

In partnership with Feed Additive Prices

Lysine

By now, most of Q3 and a decent portion of Q4 are contracted. There was some talk last week about firmer prices ex China, but so far nothing significant is seen. There is a strong desire from suppliers to increase the price and move away from the low prices level, but the demand seems unsupportive right now to do so. The summer is still long though and mostly quiet, so it has to be seen what the price will do. Stable FOB China prices for some time now, at a low level, have triggered buyers to assess risk and in some cases take forward contract cover for late Q3 and into Q4.

Threonine

Although the sentiment amongst suppliers is still bullish and there is a desire to take the prices up even further, most buyers have now become reluctant to buy threonine any further than Q3 delivery in most regions. They want to see first how the price will develop during the mostly quiet summer months. A significant new capacity volume is still supposed to come on the market in the summer, and no signs yet it will be postponed any further. Q3 is mostly contracted by now. The market has become quiet in most regions.

DL-Methionine

Some suppliers have started to offer for Q4, mentioning that prices will not go down further. But at the same time, spot prices have slowly started to go down, after the recent increase. It has become really quiet after the recent Q3 buying round and spot prices have come down a few cents last week and this week. In other regions, the price has been stable for some time already and has not seen same increase that has been seen in the EU. Other regions have not contracted fully for Q3 and have a more spot-buying approach. Prices are stable right now in all regions, with a slightly weaker tone in Europe.

Tryptophan

No significant changes are seen compared to previous weeks. Prices FOB China remain firm(er), but no impact is seen really on/in other regions. Prices remain stable there. A good portion of Q3 is contracted in most regions.

Valine

Overall, the valine market has been quite static and weak over the past few weeks. Prices have come down recently and additional material from traditional suppliers has come on the market. The demand is currently still lower than a few years ago. Although some calculations show that the demand could pick up under current macro raw material prices, but that is subject to the further price development of those raw materials. A decent portion of Q3 is contracted, but buyers still hold off on Q4 volumes.

Vitamin E 50%

There is no change reported in any region compared to previous weeks. The overall vitamin E market shows slightly weaker prices again, despite maintenance shutdowns and despite a strong desire from the manufacturers to increase prices. Especially traders continue to sell off material at a discount, leading to a price decline. The market is contracted for a decent portion of Q3.

Vitamin A 1000

Absolutely no change seen in the market dynamics, other than summer maintenance announced by manufacturers, which has not done anything to the market so far. Vitamin A continues to follow the same trends as it has in previous months. Meaning stable to weak at a very low market price. Several buyers have concluded long-term contracts into late Q3 at these low price levels. Seems that all market participants are in a wait-and-see mode right now, with manufacturers trying to move the price back up, but without success so far. A decent portion of Q3 is contracted.

Vitamin D3 500

As the market has been weakish lately in most regions, and still at a low price level, there is now again more resistance coming from suppliers to reduce the prices further. The market remains quiet though and well contracted ahead into Q3. The regulation around the import of vitamin D3 500 into the EU, made of animal origin (components) is now more clear going forward.

Vitamin B2 80%

An ongoing desire of Chinese manufacturers to increase the price. For some time no prices were offered at all, but that seems to have changed now as suppliers have returned to the market. As a result, the market has indeed been firmer the last few weeks and higher prices have been paid. But momentum seems to slow down and the market has contracted ahead by now. In other regions, some firmer prices were also seen, but material was contracted already well into Q3. In Europe, prices have stayed stable, but buyers do keep an eye on it and potentially expect some increase as well.

D-Calpan

Several buyers report keeping a closer eye on d-calpan as prices continue to stabilise a bit currently, although the overall trend remains weakish. The current price level is relatively low. More resistance is seen from manufacturers to lower the price further, but ultimately they also do not want to lose too much market share. There is a decent contract cover for Q3, but some buyers also continue to buy hand-to-mouth as they expect even lower prices.

Vitamin B3

The vitamin B3 market remains firm, but less active in terms of buying/selling activity. The spot market in Europe has seen some softer prices even, compared to several weeks ago. A lot of longer-term contracts have been concluded, but the focus is now on contract execution and the availability of product to fulfill those pending contracts. Most end-users already have contracted a big portion of Q3 and even Q4 at a mix of the low prices of some time ago and at the recent/current higher prices.