IndexBox has just published a new report: ‘World – Refined or Synthetic Glycerol – Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends And Insights’. Here is a summary of the report’s key findings.

In the past decade, global glycerol exports saw a twofold increase both in physical and value terms. In 2020, glycerol exports grew by +2.3% y-o-y to $1.3B. In physical terms, exports soared by +8.5% y-o-y to 1.9M tonnes last year. Indonesia, Germany and Malaysia constitute the largest glycerol exporters worldwide. China, the U.S. and the Netherlands feature among the largest markets for imported glycerol. In 2020, South Korea recorded the highest import growth rate, while India, China, the Netherlands, Italy, France, the UK, Spain and the Czech Republic also boosted glycerol purchases abroad. 

Global Glycerol Exports

Over the past decade, global exports of glycerol increased twofold, both in volume and value terms. In 2020, global exports of glycerol were estimated at 1.9M tonnes, increasing by +8.5% against the year before. In value terms, exports rose by +2.3% y-o-y to $1.3B (IndexBox estimates) in 2020.

In 2020, Indonesia (524K tonnes), distantly followed by Malaysia (331K tonnes), Germany (263K tonnes), the Netherlands (223K tonnes) and Brazil (95K tonnes) represented the main exporters of glycerol, mixing up 77% of total exports. Argentina (69K tonnes), Thailand (43K tonnes), Belgium (38K tonnes), the U.S. (33K tonnes) and Poland (29K tonnes) held a little share of total exports.

In value terms, Indonesia ($310M), Germany ($219M) and Malaysia ($209M) appeared to be the countries with the highest levels of exports in 2020, with a combined 58% share of global exports. The Netherlands, Brazil, the U.S., Belgium, Argentina, Thailand and Poland lagged somewhat behind, together accounting for a further 28%.

In 2020, the average glycerol export price amounted to $681 per tonne, falling by -5.7% against the previous year. There were significant differences in the average prices amongst the major exporting countries. In 2020, the country with the highest price was the U.S., while Argentina was amongst the lowest. In 2020, the most notable rate of growth in terms of prices was attained by Poland, while the other global leaders experienced more modest paces of growth.

Key Glycerol Importers

In 2020, China (427K tonnes), distantly followed by the U.S. (141K tonnes) and the Netherlands (127K tonnes) represented the key importers of glycerol, together comprising 36% of total imports. The following importers – Japan (76K tonnes), France (66K tonnes), South Korea (61K tonnes), the UK (56K tonnes), India (55K tonnes), Mexico (52K tonnes), Spain (49K tonnes), Italy (45K tonnes), Thailand (45K tonnes) and Germany (44K tonnes) – together made up 29% of total imports.

In value terms, the largest glycerol importing markets worldwide were China ($232M), the U.S. ($121M) and the Netherlands ($65M), with a combined 33% share of global imports. These countries were followed by Japan, France, South Korea, the UK, Spain, Germany, Italy, Mexico, India and Thailand, which together accounted for a further 31%.

South Korea saw the highest imports growth rate, doubling the value of purchases from abroad last year. Among other largest importers, India, China, the Netherlands, Italy, France, the UK, Spain and the Czech Republic ramped up their imports significantly in 2020.

Source: IndexBox Platform