Stearic Acid Prices Soar in India on Tight Feedstock Supply
The stearic acid price trend in India took an abrupt turn in the start of August and continued rising unabated throughout the September and the running October month. The sharply rising stearic acid price in the August third-week was recorded to be USD 1209 per tonne after registering a growth of 45% from the July prices. On gaining further hike the price of stearic acid in the September third-week stood at USD 1341 per tonne which further leaped high to a value of USD 1533 per tonne in the October third-week. The stearic acid prices triggered off following the inexorably spiralling palm oil feedstock prices in the past few months on the back of acute shortage of palm oil supplies to the downstream sectors. The palm oil feedstocks in India are primarily imported from Indonesia and Malaysia, which account for over 84% of the total global palm oil production. Since palm oil is produced from the fruits of oil palm trees, its production hugely depends on weather conditions and other far...