On the supply side, last week's operating rate for domestic petroleum benzene units stood at 74.89%, a marginal decrease of 0.05 percentage points from the previous week. Meanwhile, the operating rate for hydrotreated benzene rose by 2.94 percentage points to 59.83%, driving a slight increase in overall domestic benzene production.

Demand showed broad-based recovery. Last week, operating rates for major downstream products of pure benzene all increased. Specifically, styrene operating rates rose 1.57 percentage points to 70.7%; caprolactam operating rates climbed 4.84 percentage points to 74.04%; while phenol, aniline, and adipic acid capacity utilization rates increased by 3.22, 1.63, and 4 percentage points respectively. Overall, last week's weighted capacity utilization rate for benzene downstream products rose by 2.59 percentage points to 71.07%.

Regarding inventory, delayed imports arrived at ports, causing East China port pure benzene stocks to increase by 5% week-on-week to 273,000 tons—a relatively high level for this time of year. Profit margins saw petroleum benzene production profits recover by 38 RMB/ton to 201 RMB/ton.

Looking ahead, domestic supply is expected to increase slightly this week. A 210,000-ton-per-year petroleum benzene unit in Northeast China plans to restart, while one hydrobenzene unit each in Northwest and Southwest China also intends to resume production. Regarding downstream demand, operating rates for large styrene plants are expected to remain stable with limited changes. The caprolactam industry's “production cuts to stabilize prices” campaign continues, though a small number of plants plan to resume operations later. Operating rates for phenol, aniline, and adipic acid plants are projected to increase.

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