The focus of the domestic acetone market in February is on. The national acetone market has been trading at an average price of 6097 yuan/ton since February 1st, rising to 6492 yuan/ton on February 28th, an increase of 6.48%. From the perspective of the acetone market in East China alone, the price of 5950 yuan/ton quoted on February 1st has risen to 6520 yuan/ton quoted on February 28th, an increase of 9.85%.

Returning from the Spring Festival holiday, the domestic acetone market saw a broad upward trend in early February. On the one hand, there have been reports of shutdowns and maintenance of domestic phenol ketone plants, including the shutdown of Zhejiang Petrochemical Phase II and Ningbo Taihua plants due to malfunctions, resulting in a low operating rate of 70% for domestic phenol ketone plants. This operating rate is at a low level throughout the year, leading to a decrease in supply pressure expectations; On the other hand, imported goods are gradually being replenished, but there is not much pressure on port inventory. Downstream terminal factories have more inquiries after the holiday, and many have insufficient pre holiday inventory. After the holiday, inventory is limited and actively replenished. In the situation of low supply pressure, traders have little intention of lowering prices, continuously pushing up the market. The market has shown a significant upward trend in mid to early February.

In the second half of the month, with downstream restocking for a period of time, the purchasing pace gradually slowed down, the trading atmosphere cooled down, and the actual trading volume was relatively low. Traders actively shipped goods for profit, and there were some intentions to sell at a low price. The market center of gravity slightly declined, and in the latter half of the year, the market fluctuated in a narrow range of ups and downs.

Domestic enterprise installation situation in February: Huizhou Zhongxin Phase I phenol ketone installation will be shut down on November 1st, and the restart time is yet to be determined; The Guangxi Huayi phenol ketone plant will shut down on February 4, 2025, and is expected to undergo a maintenance period of 2 months; The phenol ketone unit of Ningbo Taihua will be shut down for maintenance from February 12th to February 22nd; The second phase phenol ketone unit of Zhejiang Petrochemical will be shut down for maintenance from February 12th to February 20th; The Shanghai Xisafen ketone plant was shut down on February 25th and is expected to resume in early March. Details are being followed up.

It is expected that the average price of acetone in the domestic market will slightly increase in March. On the supply side, the operating rate of phenol ketone enterprises has increased in March, and the supply of domestic trade goods has increased compared to February; In terms of imports, the contracted goods from Saudi Arabia and Thailand have arrived normally, while the Taiwan facility has undergone more maintenance, resulting in a decrease in overall import replenishment. From the demand side, downstream MMA, MIBK, and bisphenol A plants have seen some improvement, while there has been little change in the demand for acetone. The overall demand for acetone remains stable with a slight increase, and it is expected to rise slightly in March.