SunSirs: The Phenol Market Mainly Experienced a Decline in April

Price trend

The mainstream phenol market in China fell in April. According to data monitored by SunSirs, the domestic phenol market price was 7,337 RMB/ton on April 1st, and 6,712 RMB/ton on April 30th, a decrease of 8.52%.

Analysis review

At the beginning of the month, phenol imports and domestic trade shipments arrived at the port one after another, and the inventory at Jiangyin Port increased to 20,000 tons. However, considering the longer storage time for imported goods and the less pressure on the supply side, traders began to have a slight intention to boost the market. However, terminal procurement was poor. With the sharp decline in crude oil during the Qingming holiday, benzene fell widely, with a daily decline of more than 10%. The negative impact on the cost side led to an overall decline in industry volume, and the phenol market subsequently declined.

In late April, the phenol ketone unit of Zhongsha Tianjin Petrochemical was shut down for maintenance, and the overall phenol market supply in North China became tight. The market briefly rose, but there was little room for cost price fluctuations during the same period. Downstream price chasing was cautious, and transactions were poor. As the May Day holiday approached, market stocking sentiment was not optimistic.

As of the 30th, the phenol offers in various mainstream markets across the country were as follows:

In April, China's phenol production was 452,500 tons. In terms of equipment, the 280,000 tons/year phenol ketone unit of Guangxi Huayi was shut down in February and restarted in April; Sinopec Mitsui's 4000,00 tons/year phenol ketone plant was shut down for one month and restarted on April 20th; The 350,000 tons/year phenol ketone unit of Zhongsha Tianjin Petrochemical was shut down for maintenance on April 21st, with an estimated 45 days.

Market outlook

SunSirs predicts that the market will fluctuate within a certain range in May. From April, the upstream have had a significant impact on phenol, and pay attention to the trend of crude oil and benzene in the later stage. From the supply and demand perspective, there will be a double increase in May, and the overall change compared to April is not significant. It is expected that the market will operate weakly in May, and the average price may decline compared to April.

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