SunSirs: Benzene Returned to Weakness and Prices Continued to Fall During This Week (April 20-26)

Price trend

According to the data of SunSirs, this week, benzene returned to weakness, and prices continued to fall during the week. The price of benzene on April 19 is 3,000-3,900 RMB/ton (average price of 3,350 RMB/ton); this weekend (April 26) of benzene is 3,000-3,500 RMB/ton (average price of 3,170 RMB/ton) ), A decrease of 5.37% from last week.

Analysis review   

Product: After two weeks of hoarding goods, downstream companies have sufficient stocks of benzene, and this week's benzene market negotiations are light. In addition, crude oil plummeted on Tuesday, and the prices of external disks fell sharply, driving the domestic benzene prices to weaken. Since mid-March, the inventory of benzene ports has continued to grow, and the source of imported goods has continued to impact the domestic market. The price of Sinopec was low this week, and no price adjustment has been made yet.

External disk: The external disk fluctuated sharply this week, plunged early in the week, and rebounded sharply in the second half of the week. This Friday (April 24) South Korea imported benzene at 331.67 US dollars/ton, down 14 or 4.05% US dollars/ton from April 17; East China imported benzene 341 US dollars/ton, down 31 US dollars/ton from April 17, a decrease of 8.33%.

In terms of crude oil: On Monday, U.S. oil's May contract fell to an unprecedented negative value, crude oil inventories grew rapidly, and insufficient storage capacity triggered a fierce market sell-off. In the later period, many countries introduced policies to encourage crude oil production reduction, and the output has declined, driving oil prices to rise, and the increase was less than the decline. Compared with April 17, Brent this week fell 4.13 US dollars/barrel, a decrease of 20.51%, WTI fell 8.09 US dollars/barrel, a decrease of 32.32%. Compared with December 31, 2019, Brent fell by 76.02% and WTI fell by 72.12%.

Industrial chain: After a slight decline in styrene this week, it rebounded weakly and the overall decline slightly. On Friday, the price in Shandong was 5,000 RMB/ton, down 2.91% from last week. An aniline plant restarted during the week, the market supply increased, and the price was lowered twice. At the weekend, the price in Shandong was 5,100 RMB/ton, and the price in Nanjing was 5,100 RMB/ton, down 7.83% from last week.

Market outlook

Driven by the multi-party production reduction agreement, crude oil deposits may rebound, but the negative impact of a sharp contraction in demand cannot be offset in the short term, and the oil market cannot escape the predicament of excess supply and demand. In addition, it is now the low season for crude oil consumption, and the market recovery has been greatly hindered, and it remains low in the short term.

As the delivery nears the end of the month, the benzene market may have a certain boost. It is expected that the benzene market will maintain weak operation in the short term, and a slight rebound is possible. Pay attention to the trend of crude oil and external disk.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact SunSirs with marketing@sunsirs.com.