Caustic Potash prices Are About to go in Overdrive as Europe Awaits Deicing Season

Discussions of Caustic Potash in Europe have fluctuated in a stable to narrow range since past few months in lieu of the volatile demand in the domestic market. Despite of the extended energy crises in Europe, demand for KOH has remained dull due to the low consumption rate in various applications. However, moving into January, KOH prices are expected to rebound owing to its high demand for de-icing applications in the peak winter season.

Winter season in Europe officially begins around 22^nd December.  It has been heard that at extreme winters, demand for de-icing increases steadily from at airports, public places and even at normal localities. As KOH is regarded as one of the ideal de-icing agents, the extreme winter in Europe leads to a steep surge in its demand. In line with the bullish demand fundamentals various Chlor-Alkali manufacturers tend to increase KOH prices in order to widen their profit margins. For instance, Vynova, one of the leading Chlor-Alkali manufacturers based in Belgium have recently revealed that Caustic Potash prices might rise from USD 135-180 per MT depending upon the market conditions.

Caustic Potash (KOH) is a widely demanded chemical of the chlor-alkali family which apart from de-icing is mainly utilized in pharmaceuticals, personal and agricultural applications. As per ChemAnalyst, “Expected increment in the demand for KOH will be a major turning point that the manufacturers have been awaiting since prolong time. In line with the rise in demand, cues of exacerbations of the energy crises as Natural Gas prices usually rise in winters due to the increase in demand for heating applications, is likely to further contribute to raise the prices of various chemical commodities. However, uncertainty still hovers over the demand for various chemical commodities due to the rising stress of Omicron virus in various parts of the globe.”