Update Methacrylates Business: May 2021

Our article this month provides a brief update of the methacrylates business in May 2021.

A container ship loading in a port Röhm Roehm MMA GMAA BUMA

Since Q4 2020, MMA prices have been sharply rising in all major regions. This upward trend was driven by limited availability of raw materials, a strong recovery after the downturn in Q2 2020 due to COVID-19 impact, unplanned shutdowns in the US caused by winter storm Uri as well as imbalances in regional supply and demand.

Constraints in international container shipments have been intensifying the situation over the last 12 months. These have been caused by disruptions due to COVID-19 lockdowns in many countries and a fierce competition of shipping companies leading to a withdrawal of old vessels. The recently reported blockage of Suez canal by Golden Ever is just another example for the tight situation for container shipments which are crucial for our globally connected industry.

Due to the limited container availability, the industry’s ability to quickly react to changes in customer demand is limited. This also affects just-in-time deliveries which have been very common in the industry. As a consequence, costs have been rising for all important lanes reflecting a structural adjustment of the shipping companies due to changing circumstances of the global market. Freight rates especially increased on routes to Central and South America as well as for vessels shipping from Asia to Western industry countries.

The freight market is changing, shipping of goods around the world is most likely to become more expensive and regional markets are getting more important.

Röhm is depending on a smooth movement of goods, and our experts from Supply Chain and Logistics are working closely to guarantee our high supply reliability and the optimization of costs worldwide.

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