Styrene market continues to strengthen

On February 20, the closing price of East China styrene spot self-raising was 9350 yuan (ton price, the same below), an increase of 1700 yuan or 22.
2% from the 7650 yuan before the Spring Festival.
"Under the support of rising oil prices, rising costs and reduced external supply, the short-term market for styrene may continue to be strong.
However, we need to be wary of downstream demand purchase delays caused by price increases, poor delivery progress, and margin calls.
"Analyzed by Zhang Xuemei, director of the styrene industry chain of Longzhong Information.
? Oil prices move up and costs rise? Affected by the cold weather, oil and gas production and transportation in Texas, the United States are restricted, and Saudi Arabia has previously voluntarily reduced production, and international oil prices have a strong momentum.
On February 18, the closing price of Brent crude oil was $63.
93/barrel, an increase of $8.
4/barrel from January 28.
International oil prices rose strongly, which directly drove the increase in the price of pure benzene.
"After the holiday, the pure benzene market is actively speculating.
On February 19, the price of pure benzene rose from 5,400 yuan on February 6 to 6,000 yuan.
From the current survey, the overall downstream demand structure for pure benzene after the holiday is relatively healthy.
Phenol, aniline, caprolactam, etc.
are all in the destocking cycle, and the overall downstream profitability is good.
On the supply side, the impact of unscheduled installations in the United States is expected to subside in the short term, but the tight supply situation will continue until April, and pure benzene is expected to continue If the inventory is removed, the price may still go up," said Song Yang, a pure benzene analyst at Longzhong Information.
? According to Longzhong Information, the amount of petroleum benzene will be reduced by 199,300 tons due to maintenance from February to April.
The downstream consumption of pure benzene will be reduced by 156,400 tons due to maintenance, and the consumption of pure benzene will increase by approximately 220,000 tons.
Therefore, the balance between the domestic supply and demand of pure benzene from February to April is about -262,900 tons.
The supply is less than the demand.
The social inventory will theoretically show a downward trend.
The price of pure benzene is expected to continue to rise, bringing cost support to the styrene market.
.
? Unexpected parking supply is tight? During the Spring Festival, foreign styrene plants unexpectedly stopped supply and reduced, driving the price of styrene external disk market to rise, which will still provide a certain boost to the domestic market in the short term.
? "On February 13th, affected by the earthquake in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, the shutdown of the ethylene cracking unit caused the shutdown of the 270,000 tons/year unit of Nihon Electric Chemical Co.
, Ltd.
; on February 15th, the United States encountered a cold current, LyondellBasell Chemical Co.
, two sets of 125.
The 90,000-ton/year unit, two Styrolution's 1.
27 million-ton/year units, and the 260,000-ton/year unit of Westlake Styrene Corp unplanned shutdown.
In addition, on February 11, the unscheduled shutdown of the 680,000 tons/year plant of Covestro in Europe, the supply of styrene was greatly reduced, and the price of foreign markets rose.
Zhang Xuemei said.
? "Affected by unexpected parking, styrene prices in Europe and the United States have risen broadly, and the physical buying price of CFR China's styrene dollar market has risen to US$1180~1,200.
On February 17th, there is more intraday March swap transaction price.
Up to $1,295.
The external boost is obvious, and the domestic styrene market is expected to have a strong probability of rising.
"Analyzed by Song Xiaodong, EPS analyst of Zhuo Chuang Information.
? Domestically, Shandong Yuhuang #1 #240,000/year, Ningbo Keyuan 250,000/year, Baling Petrochemical 130,000 tons/year has not yet recovered, plus other devices.
Unexpected overhauls are frequent, and it is expected that the supply of styrene may continue to be tight.
“In addition, on February 18, China has reached a deal for a number of single styrene exports, with a transaction price of US$1220~1260.
Shipment is expected in March and April.
The pace of destocking at ports accelerated in March, which is expected to drive the upward trend of the styrene market.
Zhang Xuemei said.
? Downstream demand is overall strong? Recently, the comprehensive operating rate of the three downstream PS, ABS, and EPS industries of styrene has increased, and the overall demand for styrene has been relatively strong.
? "In terms of PS, domestic PS on February 19 The market has risen significantly compared to before the holiday.
Yuyao GPPS-525 products rose from 9,650 yuan on February 10 to 10,300 yuan, an increase of 6.
74%, an increase of 18.
4% year-on-year, which is close to the level of the same period in 2019.
The market enquiry atmosphere on the first trading day after the holiday was good, and there were also small batches of transactions.
"Longzhong Information Engineering Plastics Product Department Director Bian Guolin said.
? Bian Guolin introduced that PS downstream entered the traditional off-season in February, but because some workers were on the spot for the New Year, the holiday time of downstream factories was shortened, and the time for home appliance companies to resume production was mostly 2 From 15 to 18, the recovery of small and medium downstream factories was relatively slow.
It is expected that the resumption of work and production will accelerate after the 15th of the first month.
The resumption of production and production of northern extruded board manufacturers will mostly be at the end of February.
Therefore, it is expected that the PS market will continue to trend in mid-to-late February.
For ABS, only Shandong Haijiang’s 200,000-ton/year device fell during the Spring Festival holiday, and other devices basically maintained full load and smooth operation.
February 19 , ABS grade 0215A East China market price including tax 1.
760,000 yuan, an increase of 1,000 yuan from before the holiday.
"Part of the EPS and UPR production enterprises will continue to start construction, and some POP polyether production enterprises will maintain low load operation during the holiday season.
Production recovery is expected to be faster than the same period last year.
Demand is expected to be good, which will provide certain support for the rise in styrene prices.
"Song Xiaodong said.