TRADE TIDES FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE October 2025 77 vestigations into European Union pork imports, while summoning its top 25 domestic pig producers to curtail overproduction amid persistently weak prices. Global freight rates have fallen for more than 14 consecutive weeks, though the pace of decline varies across trade lanes. China’s Golden Week in October could offer a brief reprieve, but persistent supply-demand imbalances are set to weigh on prices in the medium term as new vessel deliveries and limited capacity controls outstrip demand. No short-term resolution of the Suez Canal passage is expected. ADDITIVES PRICES EASING, REBOUND RISK RISING In 2025, prices for most vitamins, amino acids, and other feed additives fell sharply due to weak demand from the feed sector, amplified by trade and consumption uncertainties that drove hand-tomouth purchasing and inventory drawdowns. While Methionine and Vitamin B1 prices held stable to firm year-on-year and year-to-date, Vitamins A and E saw steep declines from elevated levels caused by the BASF force majeure, fueled by expectations of production restarts and price normalization. From January to late September, the Kemiex Vitamins Index plummeted -34%, and the Kemiex Amino Acids Index dropped -21% (Figure 1). DL-Methionine Vitamin B1 L-Lysine sulfate Biotin Vitamin B12 1% L-Valine Kemiex Amino Acids Index Vitamin C 35% Vitamin B6 Vitamin B9 Vitamin B2 Vitamin B3 Vitamin B5 Vitamin K3 MNB L-Threonine L-Tryptophan Kemiex Vitamins Index L-Lysine HCl Vitamin D3 Vitamin C Vitamin E 50% Vitamin A 1’000 48% 17% 5% -9% -10% -13% -14% -15% -18% -20% -24% -28% -30% -33% -34% -35% -36% -37% -47% -62% -75% -33% 7% 6% -9% -12% -14% -18% -21% -22% -24% -25% -27% -28% -28% -30% -30% -32% -34% -36% -41% -47% -58% -64% Vitamin B9 Vitamin B1 DL-Methionine L-Valine L-Lysine sulfate Biotin Vitamin B6 Vitamin B12 1% Vitamin C 35% Kemiex Amino Acids Index L-Threonine Vitamin B2 Vitamin B5 Vitamin D3 Kemiex Vitamins Index Vitamin B3 Vitamin C L-Lysine HCl L-Tryptophan Vitamin K3 MNB Vitamin E 50% Vitamin A 1’000 Year-on-year performance Year-to-date 2025 performance Vitamins vs. amino acids (indexed) 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 Jan 2022 Jan 2023 Jan 2024 Dec 2024 Amino acids index Vitamins index Sep 2025 -21% -34% Vitamins and amino acids’ sluggish price performance YTD 2025 after strong 2024 for vitamins Figure 1 Stefan Schmidinger Photo: Kemiex Source: Kemiex
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