The overall focus of the domestic acetone market declined in July, with a slight increase at the end of the month. The acetone market in East China reported an average daily price of 5000 yuan/ton from July 1st to 4850 yuan/ton on July 30th, a decrease of 3%. From the perspective of the national acetone market, there are fluctuations of the same magnitude.
In the first half of the month, raw material products fluctuated, and the driving force from the cost side weakened. Phenol ketone factories continued to be in a loss making state, with significant shipping pressure. At the beginning of the month, the acetone market rapidly fell, with a low of 4600 yuan/ton in the East China region. Petrochemical companies followed the market fluctuations and overall lowered their listing prices.
In the middle of the month, with the normal operation of the Yangzhou Shiyou plant, the industry operating rate of the phenol ketone factory exceeded 80%, and the market supply was sufficient. The pressure on traders increased, but the market was close to a low level and the downward space was limited. With downstream inquiries on dips, factories urgently need to follow up on purchases, and market trading volume has increased. In the latter half of the month, Hengli Petrochemical’s phenol ketone unit was shut down for maintenance, causing the industry’s operating rate to decline by 5%. Although supply is still sufficient, due to limited replenishment at the port, inventory has fallen to 20000 tons. Traders intend to boost the market and offer tentative increases, with a daily increase of 20-30 yuan/ton in the last week of the month.
The acetone offers in major mainstream markets across the country on July 31st are as follows:
Region. Quotation on July 31st /Price fluctuations in July
East China region./4800-4850./-200
Shandong region / 5000./ -350
Yanshan region / 4900./ -400
South China region / 4950./ -100
In July, the 320000 tons/year phenol ketone plant at Yangzhou Shiyou was shut down for maintenance from June 13th to July 10th; Hengli Petrochemical will shut down for maintenance from July 21st to 27th; Guangxi Huayi will stop for maintenance from July 25th to 27th; The Shanghai Xisa plant stopped briefly on July 28th for a 3-day maintenance.
It is expected that the market may experience a slight increase in August. From the supply side, the Zhenhai Refining and Chemical Phenol Ketone Plant has been shipped normally, and the domestic supply of acetone has increased. From the perspective of imports, Saudi Arabia’s facilities have been shut down for maintenance, Middle Eastern sources are limited, and Thailand’s facilities have maintenance plans. Currently, the import volume has slightly decreased. From the perspective of demand, downstream bisphenol A and isopropanol units have seen some improvement, while MIBK has not fluctuated significantly. However, overall procurement is still mainly based on demand, but with the passing of high temperature weather, the overall demand for solvent products will improve. From a cost perspective, the external environment remains weak, and pure benzene is also an important factor in the later fluctuations of acetone. At present, the acetone market is at a low level, and it is expected that the acetone market will remain stable or have a narrow upward trend in August.