From December 14 to December 18, 2020, the market price of crude benzol was mainly downward. The domestic ex factory price was 3173.75 yuan / ton at the beginning of the week and 3161.25 yuan / ton at the weekend, with a weekly decrease of 0.39%.

Summary of Sinopec’s pure benzene price adjustment in December 2020 (unit: yuan / ton)

Date, adjusted price, adjusted amount

December 2, 4300, + 100

December 4, 4400, + 100

December 7, 4600, + 200

In December 2020, Sinopec’s pure benzene price will be increased three times, with a cumulative increase of 400 yuan / ton. As of the 18th, Sinopec’s refineries have implemented a unified implementation of 4600 yuan / ton.

This week, the overall start-up of coking enterprises is still relatively high. After the ninth round of rising and landing of coke, the price of coke is temporarily high and stable. With the support of high profits of coking enterprises, enterprises are actively starting and selling well. Shanxi, Shandong, Hebei, Henan and other regions under the dual impact of environmental protection and de capacity, the overall operating rate will decline. The external market of pure benzene declined this week, and the trend of downstream styrene market was weak. The price of pure benzene was mainly downward, which hindered the hydrobenzene market to follow the decline. Sinopec’s pure benzene price was mainly stable after rising. As of December 18, 4600 yuan / ton was implemented. In terms of operating rate, the operating rate of pure benzene is relatively stable in the near future, and the comprehensive operating rate is about 72%. In terms of inventory, the inventory in East China this week is lower than that in last week, and currently remains at about 240000 tons. The bidding price of crude benzol in the main production areas has been reduced under pressure this week, and the implementation rate in Shandong Province is about 3130 yuan / ton.

On the downstream side, the recent operating rate of hydrobenzene hydrogenation enterprises is stable at about 65%, which is on the rise as a whole, which is about 2% higher than last week. Some enterprises which have short-term shutdown in the early stage have started operation this week, and have good demand for crude benzene.

In terms of aftermarket, the business agency believes that at present, the overall profit is too much, the external market of pure benzene is insufficient, the price of crude benzene is mainly high recently, the cost pressure of downstream hydrobenzene enterprises is large, and the digestion of crude benzene is limited. The aftermarket still needs to pay attention to the market trend of pure benzene and the demand of downstream hydrobenzene.