What Are Factors Affecting The Price of Phosphoric Acid
From the price point of view, the price of phosphoric acid in the first quarter of 2022 will fluctuate greatly due to the influence of raw material yellow phosphorus. In January, as the phosphorus chemical market recovered and stabilized, upstream prices continued to fall, coupled with cautious downstream procurement, it was difficult for acid companies to maintain prices, and prices fell sharply. In early February, due to the Spring Festival holiday, the market was basically closed. In addition, the market recovery after the holiday was slow, and the market volatility in the early stage was not large. However, after late February, the price of yellow phosphorus rose strongly. As the market gradually recovered after the year, the market price of phosphoric acid rose accordingly.
However, the upswing time was not long this time, raw materials once again ushered in a downturn, coupled with the poor sentiment of downstream demand, the market price of phosphoric acid has dropped to a low level as a whole around the middle of the month. Although yellow phosphorus rose again in the second half of March, the phosphoric acid market did not follow up in time. It only rose again around the end of the month under cost pressure. Although low-end prices were difficult to find, high-end prices were weak.
Recently, that is, the fourth quarter of 2022, the price of phosphoric acid has shown a continuous upward trend, mainly due to the continuous increase in the price of yellow phosphorus, one of its raw materials. And due to China’s power-limiting environmental protection policy, the output of phosphoric acid has decreased.
So what are the main factors that affect the fluctuation of the price of phosphoric acid?
The price of raw materials, that is, the cost factor. The cost factor mainly revolves around the trend of raw material yellow phosphorus. For example, the price of yellow phosphorus has rebounded slightly, and the phosphoric acid market is mostly on the sidelines. If the price continues to rise, the phosphoric acid market will follow up. Raw materials continued to decline, and cost support continued to weaken. Since the end of May, the market price of yellow phosphorus began to fall and the range continued to expand, led by the factors of sufficient supply but reduced demand.
Global demand for phosphoric acid. From the perspective of demand, the phosphoric acid market demand in the first quarter was in a tepid situation, and the enthusiasm of enterprises to stock up was not as good as in previous years. Affected by the Winter Games in February, downstream enterprises in some areas in East China and North China were affected, which weakened demand. Although raw materials rose in March, it did not drive the phosphoric acid market. In addition, East China was affected by the epidemic, and market shipments and terminal companies The start of work has been affected to some extent, resulting in continued decline in demand. It is reported that although there are orders signed at the venue, the delivery cycle is long, and some enterprises have high inventory pressure and temporarily cut production.
Process for the production of phosphoric acid. There are two main production methods of phosphoric acid: wet process phosphoric acid and thermal process phosphoric acid. The production method is different, the purity of phosphoric acid, and the impurity content are different, resulting in price differences.
