1、 Price trend

According to the data of business news agency’s block list, the price of pure benzene went down this week. On January 17, the price of pure benzene was 4230-4650 yuan / ton (average price was 4506 yuan / ton); on this Sunday (January 24), the price of pure benzene was 4180-4650 yuan / ton (average price was 4490 yuan / ton), down 16 yuan / ton or 0.36% from last week.

2、 Analysis and comment

This week, Sinopec’s listed price of pure benzene was stable, at 4650 yuan / ton (4500 yuan / ton in parts of North China). During the week, although the news of crude oil and external market was good, the inventory of downstream raw materials was high, and the enthusiasm of stock preparation and purchase was not high; moreover, the spot price of domestic pure benzene fell due to the impact of the low price of northern hydrogenation benzene. On Monday, the total inventory of pure benzene in East China port was about 5000 tons lower than last week. News within the week Brunei Hengyi benzene plant failure, is expected to have a certain impact on later shipping.

In terms of external market, the external market price fluctuated and rose this week. On Friday (January 22), South Korea imported 655.67 US dollars / ton of pure benzene, up 6.34 US dollars / ton or 0.98% compared with January 15; East China imported 651.5 US dollars / ton, up 15.5 US dollars / ton or 2.44% compared with January 15.

In terms of crude oil, this week’s crude oil news guidance is weak, and the market hopes that the new US fiscal stimulus plan will be implemented. Compared with January 15, Brent rose by $0.705/barrel, or 1.29%; WTI fell by $0.15/barrel, or 0.29%.

Downstream: styrene: this week, styrene rose first and then fell, rising overall compared with last week. On Friday (January 22), the price of sample enterprises was 6816.67 yuan / ton, up 116.67 yuan / ton, or 1.74%, compared with last Friday; the price fell 5.76% compared with the same period last year. This week, the supply of imported styrene was obviously less, the accumulated storage of port was slow, the operation rate of domestic styrene rose, and the supply on site was good. On the downstream side, with the downstream plants entering the period of production reduction or shutdown, the demand for styrene tends to shrink. And according to market news, next week, the main port’s arrival volume is around 50000 tons, and the arrival volume is too much. If there is no closure and other accidents, the main port will accumulate again. It is expected that in the short term, the market will once again suppress the profit of styrene production, and styrene may adjust in a weak way

Aniline: some aniline plants have been put into operation at reduced load, market supply and demand are balanced, and aniline prices are mainly stabilized this week. On January 24, the price of aniline was 7800-7900 yuan / ton in Shandong and 8000-8100 yuan / ton in Nanjing.

3、 Future forecast

In terms of crude oil, there is more positive news in the crude oil market, and it is expected that the oil price will continue to fluctuate at a high level next week.

Affected by the public health events and the rain and snow weather in the north, many downstream units are expected to stop, and the demand for pure benzene is weakening. Downstream styrene is expected to continue to decline next week, pure benzene or drag with the fall. However, crude oil, high support outside the market, pure benzene is expected to decline little. Continue to pay attention to the situation of stock preparation and shutdown in the downstream before the festival, as well as the trend of crude oil, external market and styrene.