SunSirs: Supply and Demand Are Both Weak, and the Xylene Market Continues to Fall

Price trend

According to the SunSirs’ Commodity Market Analysis System, the xylene market performs weakly this week. From August 8 to 15, 2025, the price of xylene decreased by 1.86% from 5,900 RMB/ton to 5,790 RMB/ton. The overall domestic xylene market declines during this period, and the overall weakness in the crude oil market during the week weighs on spot market sentiment. In Shandong Province, driven by low downstream purchasing interest, ex-factory prices continue to decline, attracting downstream buyers and generating strong trading activity. Supply in East and South China is relatively loose during the week, leading to price cuts from major refineries and weak downstream demand, resulting in an overall downward trend in market prices.

Analysis review

Cost: Crude oil prices have been range-bound this cycle. OPEC+ announced a cumulative production increase of 2.3 million barrels per day (bpd) by September, marking the organization's exit from its planned production cuts of over 2.2 million bpd a year ahead of schedule, negative news for the oil market. Furthermore, the impact of Middle Eastern geopolitical tensions, negative global macroeconomic data, and the impending summer off-season in the United States are likely to continue weighing on crude oil prices. As of August 14th, the September WTI crude oil futures contract settled at $63.96 per barrel. The October Brent crude oil futures contract settled at $66.84 per barrel.

Supply: Sinopec's xylene price summary: Currently, operations are operating normally, production is stable, and both production and sales are steady. Company prices remain unchanged from the previous day. As of August 15th, East China companies are quoting 5,850-5,950 RMB/ton, North China companies 5,650-5,850 RMB/ton, South China companies 5,800-5,850 RMB/ton, and Central China companies 5,700-5,800 RMB/ton.

Demand Side: On August 15th, Sinopec Sales Company's paraxylene prices remains stable at 7,000 RMB/ton. This price applies to all regions in East China, North China, Central China, and South China. Plants at Yangzi Petrochemical and Zhenhai Petrochemical are operating stably, and sales are normal. This price remains unchanged from August 9th. As of August 14th, the closing price of paraxylene in the Asian market was $799-801/ton FOB Korea and $824-826/ton CFR China, a decrease of $15/ton from August 8th.

Market outlook

On the supply side, some units have been shut down for maintenance, but operating levels have remained high recently, and some manufacturers have begun exporting. The market anticipates that supply will remain relatively loose going forward. On the demand side, demand in the oil blending industry has been relatively healthy, but demand in the chemical industry is weak. Overall, the overall supply and demand sides remain weak, and the xylene market is expected to remain stable but weaker in the short term.

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