Global PMMA market sentiment weak, likely to bounce back in Q1 2022

After a strong year for whole acrylics chain, prices of Poly Methyl Methacrylate (PMMA) show a downward trend as the year draws to a close. PMMA maintained robust pricing for a major part of the year stemming from sharp demand rise and dwindled production throughout the world due to global as well as regional factors.

Domestic prices of PMMA in South Asia slumped to USD 2357-2514 per MT during initial weeks of December while South-East Asia PMMA prices dropped to USD 2290-2430 per MT. Similar trends have also been observed in the West where USA prices dipped under USD 3000 per MT on FOB basis after remarkable Q2 and Q3.

Drop in prices comes from dwindling demand towards the end of the year in the backdrop of waning consumption of acrylics sheets across the world. Low demand of acrylics has also impacted MMA market, feedstock for PMMA, where despite high transportation and raw material costs, manufacturers were forced to decrease the prices of MMA.

In South Asia, PMMA manufacturers enjoyed healthy margins on the back of healthy prices during first three quarters consolidating on the improved performance of downstream acrylics sheets industry after the dull of 2020. As per ITC data, China exported more than 1776 metric tons of PMMA to the world in May 2021 increasing from the underwhelming number of 775 metric tons in February 2020. Significant increase in PMMA exports from China not only indicate boost in production but also imply the great demand of the material from international market in spite of extremely high freight and shipping costs.

USA also mirrored the above market sentiment where US exports of PMMA declined to 954 metric tons in May 2020 and sharply rose to 3069 metric tons in September 2021. US also struggled with unforeseen weather conditions causing production disruptions and resolutely high freight charges made imports unsustainable and uncompetitive further complexing the market dynamics.

Recent weakening of PMMA market sentiment is likely to be short-term and more seasonal in nature which is in all likelihood to be altered in coming quarter with the recovery in consumption from downstream industries around the world. Recent happenings which include speculations around new covid variant, plunge in China construction industry, and upcoming winter holiday season contributed majorly to a bearish market sentiment.

During 2021, considerable growth in manufacturing and construction industry contained the underwhelming performance of automobile industry which forms the key sector of consumption of PMMA. However, it has been expected that automobile industry that is in dire straits due to global semiconductor shortage will rebound in 2022 further strengthening PMMA market dynamics.