Price Trends

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

The Chinese PM/PMA market was weak this week. Though most PM/PMA producers operated on a low workload and supply was modest, the mainstream negotiation in several areas still declined.

• PM
• PMA

The Chinese MDI market increased dramatically. Up to September 7, the mainstream negotiation price of TDI was in the range of RMB 35,000-35,500/mt by cash in the Chinese market, which was up RMB 5,000/mt and the increase rate was 16.53%.

• MDI

The TDI price was stable this week. The TDI prices in North and East China were range-bound, while these in South China decreased slightly.

• TDI

The overall supply is not high and the demand for CPL may increase. It is predicted that the CPL market may inch up next week.

• Cyclohexanone
• Caprolactam

The PA market rebounded this week. The prices for PA produced via o-xylene were RMB 6,700/mt in East China, up RMB 300/mt or 4.69% from last week.

• Phthalic Anhydride

The Chinese dichloromathane market jumped this week. As the sales in last week was active, the the high inventories decreased greatly.

• Dichloromethane