The price is feared to go down further, with the consignment of around 800 tonne of imported acrylic acid expected to come to the markets by early February. While this consignment is said to have been transacted earlier, no fresh imports are likely to materialise in the coming days, traders say.Currently, domestic acrylic acid is quoted at Rs 61 per kg, down from Rs 76-80 quoted in November last. The current price, according to traders, is the lowest in the last one year.

Acrylic acid's international price is currently quoted at US $800-950 per tonne which is down from previous level at US$980-1,000 per tonne quoted in last September. Low demand and offtake is said to be one of the main reasons for low prices, traders say.

Domestic demand of around 1,500 mt for acrylic acid, traders say, is met entirely through imports from France, the USA, Korea and Japan as there are no manufacturers of acrylic acid in India. Large indentors indent the requirements of domestic users and small traders.

Says Black Rose Exports' manager, Bharat Mehta, the landed cost of imported acrylic acid works out to around Rs 58 per kg, lower by Rs 3 per kg of the Indian product. ``This trend has swiftly changed in buyer's favour.''

Traders who had purchased acrylic acid earlier in August-September last at the rate Rs 75-79 per kg are finding it difficult to sell their inventory because of sliding prices.

``Because of low offtake, around 200 mt of acrylic acid is easily available at current low price of Rs 66-68 per kg'' Mehta feels. ``With slack demand neither the prices are likely to go up nor any huge importslikely to take place.'' ``Users of the acrylic acid has enough stock with them for consumption. They are not ready to buy at the current price,'' says chemical exporter Krishan International's Dinesh Thakker.

According to Mehta, ``The global demand for acrylic acid is estimated to be growing by seven per cent per year. This justifies a new plant every year for meeting the incremental demand. Almost a dozen plants are either on the stage of completion or on build- up stage at various levels. Sumitomo of Japan has commissioned a plant recently in Singapore with capacity of 2,50,000 tpa.

Among other players, Chendal of Malaysia has commissioned a plant with capacity of 2,00,000 TPA and in next three years 2001-2003 there will be over- supply of the stock in the international market, Mehta said.

In the following three years, BASF is likely to install a plant of 4,80,000 TPA. USA's Dow Chemical 2,40,000 TPA and Nippon Shokibai (Japan) 2,40,000 TPA. There is likely to get overcapacity, when all these plantscommence the production. The bigger importer in India of acrylic acid are the Phoenix industry, Pidilite industry, BASF and Aquapharma Chemical Pvt Ltd. Out of the total share of import, 40 per cent of share churn by these companies and the balance in small quantities, like Supreme India International, J Kirit and Brothers, Manisha Trade Chemicals, Padma Corporation, and Urmi Chemical.