In the first half of the year, China's petrochemical industry operated remarkably In the second half of the year, it faced new challenges

China's petrochemical industry stabilized in the first half of the year, and the achievements greatly exceeded the expectations at the beginning of the year, among which the operating income of the petrochemical industry increased by 20.

On August 10, at the 2022 National Petroleum and Chemical Industry Economic Situation Analysis Conference held in Dalian, Liaoning Province, Fu Xiangsheng, vice president of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Petrochemical Federation), released the first half of the petrochemical industry economic operation report (hereinafter referred to as the report) pointed out that in the first half of the year, enterprises above the scale of the petrochemical industry (hereinafter referred to as "regulations") achieved operating income of 8.

In the first half of the year, China's petrochemical industry operated remarkably

In the face of the new situation and new characteristics such as the continuous high price of energy and resource products, and the frequent distribution of the epidemic situation to bring more uncertainty to the security of the industrial chain supply chain, China's petrochemical industry stabilized its operation in the first half of the year and achieved results that greatly exceeded the expectations at the beginning of the year, of which the operating income of the petrochemical industry increased by 20.

Production of major petrochemicals continued to grow

The status of the petrochemical industry as an important pillar industry of the national economy has become increasingly prominent

In the first half of this year, compared with the same period last year, the number of enterprises on the regulation increased even more

From the perspective of the internal segmentation of the petrochemical industry, the benefits and proportions of the three major sectors of oil and gas, refining and chemical are changing

In the second half of the year, the operation of the petrochemical industry faced new challenges

The report analyzes that this year, the new crown epidemic is still in the process of mutating around the world, and the risk of virus transmission is further increasing
.
Coupled with geopolitical conflicts and the intensification of all-out sanctions by the West, the global political economy is forming a new change of great confrontation, great division and great reconstruction, and now the global economy is in a severe situation
of intertwining multiple contradictions, superimposing multiple dilemmas, and continuous downward pressure.

On July 26, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its world economic growth forecast for this year and next to 3.
2% and 2.
9%, which is the second downward revision of the IMF's world economic growth forecast after the April cut
.
The report predicts that the world economic growth rate will slow from 6.
1% last year to 3.
2% this year, 0.
4 percentage points lower than the April forecast; the world economic growth rate is expected to be 2.
9% in 2023, 0.
7 percentage points
lower than the April forecast.

In addition, the World Bank, the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, Goldman Sachs, etc.
have all expressed concerns about
the global economy this year.

According to the petrochemical federation's analysis, since late February, global prices for crude oil, natural gas, coal and other bulk raw materials have been running
high.
In the first half of the year, the average price of Brent crude oil was $107.
6 /barrel, up 66% year-on-year, and has recently fluctuated below $100/barrel; Fluctuations in oil prices directly affect price shocks
for other bulk raw materials, basic chemicals and grains.
Since May, the price of crude oil and its main petrochemicals has begun to fall, and the price decline has become more pronounced
in June.
Pressure on price volatility in crude oil and major petrochemicals is expected to increase in
the second half of the year.

From January to June, the total import and export volume of the petrochemical industry increased by 28.
6% year-on-year, but the risk impact of the global economic downturn on the foreign trade of the petrochemical industry in the second half of the year should not be underestimated
.
The Petrochemical Federation believes that in the second half of the year, it is still facing arduous tasks
to promote the stability and quality of foreign trade.

Recognize and seize the opportunity to achieve stable growth

Li Shousheng, president of the Petrochemical Federation, said that consolidating the foundation of "stability" is the most urgent task
in the current economic operation of the industry.
In the second half of the year, steady growth is under great pressure, and at the same time, there are also major opportunities
.

First, global energy and fertilizer shortages provide market opportunities
for the development of the petrochemical industry.
Russia is a major supplier of natural gas and hard coal to
Europe.
After the outbreak of geopolitical conflicts, it is expected that Europe will not only face a severe shortage of natural gas this winter, but also a gap
of about 7 million tons of coal supply.
At the same time, Russia and Ukraine are also big exporters of chemical fertilizers, especially Russia, the current annual output of chemical fertilizers in Russia exceeds 50 million tons, is the second largest exporter of fertilizers in the world, and potash exports account for 20%
of the global total.
There is also a current shortage of fertilizer supply worldwide
.
Li Shousheng suggested that in the face of this market shortage, China's petrochemical enterprises can give full play to their production capacity advantages, make policy adjustments, do some good things in the supply of energy and fertilizers, and do some major things
for win-win cooperation.

Second, we should seize the major supporting opportunities
for automobiles, electronic information, major equipment and new infrastructure projects strongly supported by domestic macroeconomic policies.
According to the statistics of the Petrochemical Federation on major investment projects in the industry since the beginning of this year, more than 380 major petroleum and chemical projects have been started, including key technical equipment for deepwater oil and gas development, shale gas drilling in complex blocks, etc.
In this batch of major capital construction supporting projects, it can create more high-end, differentiated, short-board, and blank-filling original technology projects that "support others and develop themselves", showing that the important role of technological innovation in optimizing the industrial structure is crucial
。

In addition, there are many opportunities
in the domestic market consumption upgrade to cultivate new consumption growth points, corporate mergers and acquisitions, and cultivate new market competition advantages in the "customer moving" service.

Li Shousheng pointed out that only by achieving steady progress in the petrochemical industry can it create a new situation for the
future.
"We are not only full of confidence in 'stability', but also full of passion
for 'progress'.
" (Reporter Liu Liang)

Transferred from: China Petroleum News