Price Trends

Disperse dyes prices increased by 90% recently while the reactive dyes market remained stagnant. Why?

• Dye

The Chinese caprolactam (CPL) market entered traditional boom season from September. The CPL prices stopped decreasing and began to rebound at the beginning of this month.

• CPL

Summer is the traditional off-season on the hot and rainy weather. However, the Chinese ethyl acetate market went up in July and August

• Ethyl Acetate
• Glacial Acetic Acid

The Chinese PM/PMA market continued decreasing this week and the offers went downwards again. The PO market declined slightly, which decreased the production cost of PM/PMA.

• PM
• PMA

The overall supply of phthalic anhydride is modest and the demand is stable. The National Day holiday will not boost the demand. Given the high production cost pressure, downstream users are unwilling to buy high-priced goods.

• Phthalic Anhydride

The cyclohexanone market went up this week. The benzene market fluctuated marginally.

• Cyclohexanone

The glacial acetic acid market increased greatly this week. Up to September 21, the glacial acetic acid market prices in East China were in the range of RMB 3,230-3,450/mt.

• Glacial Acetic Acid

The overall inventory has become tight. But the downstream demand is also weak. It is predicted that the titanium dioxide market may inch up in the short term.

• Titanium Dioxide

The low-end sec-butyl acetate market increased slightly this week. Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Group shut the unit unexpectedly and stopped supplying sec-butyl acetate to the market.

• Sec Butyl Acetate

In H1 September, Chinese titanium dioxide producers raised prices by around RMB 500/mt. The buying interest inched up.

• Titanium Dioxide

Although the chemical industry entered the traditional boom season, the BDO market was still flat.

• BDO

Some producers have stopped accepting orders and the overall supply will be tight. The price will continue to go up. However, downstream users may show resistance to the high prices. ECHEMI forecasts that the Chinese dichloromethane market may inch up.

• Dichloromethane

Moreover, ethylene oxide (EO) and n-butyl alcohol (NBA) prices were at highs, which supported the BCS market. The BCS market price had hit a new high.

• BCS
• EO
• NBA

The global capacity of phthalic anhydride (PA) is about 6,500kt per year. The PA capacity in China occupies more than 43% by 3,000kt/year.

• PA
• Chinese

Players should focus on the changes of supply. It is predicted that the Chinese phenol market will be largely stable and may see mild increases.

• Phenol
• Benzene

The production cost will weigh on the cyclohexanone market. The demand from caprolactam will be firm. It is predicted that the caprolactam market will show a stable-to-increasing trend.

• Cyclohexanone
• CPL

The Chinese dichloromethane market continued to jump this week. The growth rate slowed down from last week.

• Dichloromethane

The Chinese rutile titanium dioxide market inched up this week. Dealing prices remained largely stable.

• Titanium Dioxide

Recently, New Zealand Commerce Commission approved the acquisition, which meant that the progress was half done. Tronox will be the world’s largest producer of titanium dioxide

• Titanium Dioxide
• Tronox

In 2017, it was hard for the phthalic anhydride market to reach above RMB 8,000/mt. In Q1, 2017, the phthalic anhydride market fell from RMB 8,000/mt to RMB 6,400/mt in two months,

• Phthalic Anhydride