Force majeure event may affect the supply of Bayer's glyphosate products for about three months

According to reliable sources, on February 11, Bayer's global head of active ingredient production, wrote to customers that due to a mechanical failure in the manufacturing plant of a supplier of a key raw material, production will drop sharply. According to the supplier's notification, it is expected that the production line will be repaired for about three months. Due to this force majeure event, Bayer has notified that their scheduled deliveries of certain orders for glyphosate or products containing glyphosate may be affected.

It is known that the market for glyphosate is weak before and after the Chinese Spring Festival. The mainstream price has dropped from more than Yuan80,000 to Yuan75,000, and there was an offer with a price of Yuan72,000. In addition, according to AgroPages, most of the international market orders were placed in January, and they were basically wait-and-see since February, and the terminal sales price of glyphosate, a dealer in the United States said,  has fallen by 20% in their area.

The U.S. market is currently entering an intermittent period of crop rotation. The Glyphosate will start to be applied in March. Some analysts estimate that market shortage will reach 15-20 million gallons （56,000 -75,000 KL）in the United States.

Brazil’s soybeans are about to be harvested, and the peak season for glyphosate shipments to the Brazilian market will start in April and last until September. Most of the orders that need to be shipped in April have not yet been placed this year. Bayer's announcement undoubtedly injected a stimulant into the seemingly weakened glyphosate market, and the market price of glyphosate began to rise that day in China.

It is unclear what raw materials was affected （ analyst said it may be Chlorine, Diethanolamine（DEA）or catalyst,）and how much glyphosate capacity of Bayer was affected. Due to the high price and downward trend in the previous period, the stock of glyphosate in the terminal market is limited. We will wait and see how long the boosting effect of Bayer on the glyphosate market will last.