Price Trend

The domestic dimethyl ether market fluctuated upward in March. At the beginning of the month, the average domestic dimethyl ether market price was 3176.67 yuan/ton, and at the end of the month, the average price was 3380 yuan/ton. The monthly increase was 6.4%, and the price fell 19.82% compared with the same period last year.

II. Market Analysis

Products: Dimethyl ether market surged in February. The atmosphere of market transaction is general. As of March 29, Yutai of Hebei Province has no quotation for parking, while Shengxin Biotechnology Co., Ltd. of Qinyang City has no quotation for dimethyl ether. The ex-factory price of dimethyl ether in Henan Lankao Huitong Chemical Co., Ltd. is 3370 yuan/ton, Henan Yima Xinyuan dimethyl ether ex-factory price is 3410 yuan/ton, Hebei Jichun Chemical Co., Ltd. is 3550 yuan/ton, Shandong Dezhou Shengdeyuan Co., Ltd. is 3500 yuan/ton, Shanxi Orchid Science and Technology Venture Co., Ltd. is 3250 yuan/ton.

Industry chain: March domestic methanol market volatility. According to the price monitoring of business associations, the price of methanol was 2438 yuan/ton at the beginning of the month and 2378 yuan/ton at the end of the month. The price of methanol fell by 2.46% in the month, 12.89% compared with the same period last year. In March, domestic liquefied petroleum gas market prices first restrained and then increased, and overall downward trend. At the beginning of the month, the average price of domestic liquefied gas market was 4100 yuan/ton, and at the end of the month, it was 3996.67 yuan/ton. The price fell by 2.52% in the month and increased by 10.21% compared with the same period last year. In April, Saudi Arabia’s Amy CP: Propane 515 US dollars per ton, up 25% from last month. Butane is 535 dollars/ton, up 15% from last month.

At the beginning of this month, some factories parked and repaired, and the market supply was reduced. In addition, the trend of cost methanol was strong, and the market mentality was good. The downstream market actively joined the WTO to replenish the goods. The factories shipped smoothly, the inventory was not pressurized, the mentality was strong, and the price went up sharply. However, the liquefied petroleum gas market continued to be depressed in the later period, which affected the market mentality. In addition, with the completion of a new round of replenishment in the downstream market, many factories have withdrawn from the market to consume inventory. Some factories have restarted their equipment, the market supply has increased, and prices have oscillated and fallen. At the end of the month, manufacturers’profits hang upside down, with a strong exploratory mentality supported by low-warehouse, coupled with the rise of CPs in April, which boosted the market mentality, and prices rebounded slightly.

Industry: According to the price monitoring of business associations, in March 2019, there were 7 kinds of commodities rising annually in the energy sector, including 2 kinds of commodities with an increase of more than 5%, accounting for 12.5% of the monitored commodities in the sector; the top three commodities were petroleum coke (7.60%), dimethyl ether (6.40%) and asphalt (3.68%). There are 9 kinds of commodities falling annually, and 2 kinds of commodities falling by more than 5% accounted for 12.5% of the monitored commodities in this sector. The products of the first three declines were liquefied natural gas (-12.87%), coke (-9.73%) and MTBE (-4.09%). This month’s average rise and fall was -0.61%.

3. Future Market Forecast

Dimethyl ether business analysts believe that: at present in the off-season, the market demand is insufficient. But in April, CPs rose, liquefied petroleum gas trend or strong upward, boosting the market. The dimethyl ether Market is expected to rise slightly in the short term.