The global amino acids market has exhibited a largely subdued tone in recent weeks, influenced in part by the recent holiday closure in China and stable fundamentals across key segments. While participants monitor emerging trends in supply, pricing, and external market factors, buyer sentiment remains cautious and most fourth-quarter contracts have already been finalised. The following is a snapshot of current market dynamics.
In partnership with Feed Additive Prices
Lysine
The market remains subdued as China was closed last week for national holidays, resulting in no new price updates. Suppliers continue to maintain stable to slightly firmer prices and are not expected to alter their policies until after the holiday. Despite the notably low prices, the underlying fundamentals do not appear to support any imminent price increases, leading to a quiet market atmosphere where participants are adopting a wait-and-see approach. While Q4 is largely contracted, Q1 remains open for transactions.
Threonine
China was closed last week, resulting in no new price updates. While some suppliers attempted to raise prices on a FOB China basis during the past weeks, there has been no significant impact to report. Currently, FOB China prices are at historically low levels. However, due to other critical factors such as soy and corn prices, container freight costs, and currency exchange rates, buyers remain cautious and prefer to hold off on making purchases. Although Q4 is largely contracted, some gaps have still been identified.
DL-Methionine
The market has been relatively stable recently. Some suppliers are targeting higher prices, as they indicate that availability is less good due to plant maintenance. Buyers have not really reacted to that, and prices have remained stable so far in most regions. Q4 is mostly contracted by now, but buyers and sellers remain on the sidelines still for potential Q1 2026 business.
Tryptophan
Market conditions remain largely unchanged, with prices continuing to face downward pressure as suppliers are eager to sell, anticipating increased capacity by 2026. While market prices have shown a degree of stability recently, they remain at a low level, contributing to a generally weak sentiment. Currently, most of the fourth quarter is contracted.
Valine
Recent fluctuations in pricing have introduced some attractive discount offers, while product availability remains robust as traditional Western suppliers strive to secure their market positions. Currently, the situation surrounding the anti-dumping case in Europe is relatively calm, with provisional measures in place as the market anticipates the final decisions. For the fourth quarter, most contracts have already been finalised.
