Argus Chlor-Alkali and Derivatives

The service covers the global caustic soda, chlorine, hydrochloric acid and potassium hydroxide markets, with regional prices and analysis across: 

• Americas — North America contract, regional, barge, US Gulf coast export, Brazil contract and import. 
• Europe — northwest Europe, Germany, Benelux, UK, southern Europe, central and eastern Europe, and Nordic. 
• Asia-Pacific — northeast Asia, southeast Asia, China, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. 
• Middle East — export prices from Middle East ports.

 

Related markets including hydrochloric acid (HCl) and potassium hydroxide (KOH) are also covered.

Argus Chlor-Alkali and Derivatives is a pricing service providing independent price assessments, market news and fundamentals analysis for the global caustic soda, chlorine, hydrochloric acid and potassium hydroxide markets. A full monthly report is published on the second to last business day of each month, supported by a weekly price supplement and market update published every Friday.

The service includes three price assessment frequencies:

• Weekly — selected caustic soda domestic, import and export assessments, published every Friday. 
• Monthly — full report assessments published on the last Friday of each month. 
• Quarterly — published in the report for the first month of the relevant delivery quarter. 

Argus assesses chlor-alkali prices using data gathered from producers, consumers and intermediaries through a proactive polling process. Key inputs include:

• Transactions, bids and offers, with transactions prioritised as the primary input. 
• Spread values, exchange trades and fundamental supply and demand information. 
• Structured judgment applied where transaction data is insufficient.

 

All assessments are published as low-high ranges. The full methodology is available at argusmedia.com.

The weekly supplement covers selected caustic soda domestic import and export assessments, including:

• Caustic soda North America domestic barge, fob USGC. 
• Caustic soda fob USGC export. 
• Caustic soda fob northwest Europe export. 
• Caustic soda cfr Mediterranean and Black Sea import. 
• Caustic soda fob northeast Asia export. 
• Caustic soda cfr southeast Asia import. 
• Caustic soda solid fob China export. 
• Caustic soda domestic China 50pc. 

Yes. The service includes real-time market news, regional commentary and fundamentals analysis covering: 

• Plant operating rates and maintenance outages. 
• Trade flows and import/export activity. 
• Production costs, demand evolution and key economic drivers.

 

News is published in real time through the Argus client portal and in the weekly PDF report.

The service is available through multiple delivery channels:

• Client portal — real-time access to prices, news, dashboards and reports.
• Weekly and monthly PDF reports — delivered by email.
• Electronic data feeds — for direct integration into databases and internal systems. 

Third-party integrators — via Argus partner platforms.

Caustic soda and chlorine are consumed across a broad range of industries. Key sectors include:

• Pulp and paper. 
• Alumina refining. 
• Oil refining. 
• Water treatment. 
• PVC and vinyl production. 
• Chemical manufacturing. 
• Mining and metals processing. 
• Soaps and detergents. 
• Bio-ethanol and bio-diesel production. 
• Battery material production.