More on China’s price hikes

David Crowley, business manager at chemical importer Redox, has contacted SPLASH! to provide more details on the price increases from China.

 

He says that the Chinese excise was imposed on fertilizer compounds as an attempt to slow the export of these products from China, and therefore aid the local farmers during their peak spring growing season. Many compounds used in the Pool Industry (UV stabiliser, SDIC, TCICA) are actually derived from urea which is a fertilizer compound, and were affected by the excise.

 

He says that some of the big price jumps seen on these compounds were more related to the price spike on crude oil, as urea is produced from a base component called naphtha, which is cracked off the crude oil stream. He sees there could be some hope for reduced prices as the oil price comes down, but that is likely to be counteracted by the falling Aussie dollar. The transport restrictions mentioned in the previous issue of SPLASH! were related to the movement of Dangerous Goods, and have now been lifted. However, the removal of the export rebate (which saw the cost of some pool chemicals jump by 13 per cent) remains in place.

 

Crowley sees the potential for prices to drop as and if demand contracts in key markets, particularly the United States, freeing up availability in China.