Styrene market demand is weak

Nearly two years, as China's new production of styrene device constantly release, self-sufficiency, industry to supply exceeds demand, combined with Europe and the United States part of styrene unit concentrated production reduction, superposition JinYang, Japan and South Korea and other equipment maintenance during this period, the international supply shrank obviously, the export of Chinese styrene for two consecutive years appeared more obvious increment, to a certain extent, it has made up for the supply gap in the international market.

From the data of the export of styrene from January to September 2022, the export of styrene in the second quarter was the most concentrated, with the highest monthly export in May, reaching 155,400 tons, and the first three quarters without exception had different quantities of export in each month.

From the analysis of export channel of SM from January to September, South Korea accounted for the most, accounting for up to 34%, India, the Netherlands and Turkey accounted for the same proportion, basically around 14-16%. In addition, Brazil, Taiwan Province, Belgium and other regions also had certain exports.

According to the statistics of SM export destinations from January to September, Zhejiang Province is the leading province, accounting for more than 40%, and Shandong, Liaoning, Jiangsu and Shanghai provinces account for around 10-12%. In addition, Guangdong Province and Tianjin also have a certain proportion of exports.

In the fourth quarter, export talks largely stalled as weak international demand and high freight costs delayed the opening of arbitrage Windows for styrene exports. In recent years, Chinese styrene is in production capacity concentrated release cycle, in order to relieve the pressure caused by domestic high-speed expansion, the feasibility of export will be continued to be concerned.