Squeezed margins: how are derivatives producers making cheap products despite iodine price increases?

• Autores: Michael Greenfield
• Localización: Industrial Minerals, ISSN 0019-8544, Nº. 609, 2019 (Ejemplar dedicado a: April)
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Steep increases in price of the raw material have squeezed margins among iodine derivatives producers, while some companies are reported to be producing very cheap derivatives in a bid to gain market share, Michael Greenfield, Market Reporter, finds. The obvious answer would be to increase the price of derivatives, but the problem with that solution is that there are reported to be cheap derivatives products on the market, so any price increase would result in a loss of market share. According to the first derivatives producer, this pricing strategy may have been achievable because longstanding contracts between iodine producers and consumers were still active. According to the second derivatives producer that spoke to Fastmarkets, “SQM is the largest producer of iodine in the world, and Ajay-SQM is offering sodium iodite and potassium iodite at a much cheaper cost than they are asking for iodine.”