Domestic polyethylene production decreased in April, supply pressure continued

In April 2020, domestic PE output was approximately 1.6074 million tons, a decrease of 8.23% month-on-month and an increase of 8.92% year-on-year. Among them, LLDPE output decreased by 11.97% month-on-month and increased by 14.75% year-on-year; LDPE output decreased by 12.79% month-on-month and decreased by 0.13% year-on-year; HDPE output decreased by 3.01% month-on-month and increased by 7.05% year-on-year.

Although the pre-repaired Shenyang Chemical and Zhongtian Hechuang devices started operation at the beginning of this month, the Shenhua Yulin 300,000-ton / year high-pressure device was shut down for maintenance on the 7th, and it is planned to be repaired for 55 days. Temporary parking, driving on the 13th; Zhenhai Refinery and Chemical Corporation 450,000 tons / year full density parking on the 17th for a week. In April, the number of petrochemical maintenance equipment increased compared with the previous month, so the output decreased.

May is the season of domestic overhaul of PE equipment, and some of the equipment's shutdown maintenance caused a certain amount of loss. In addition, after the Spring Festival this year, domestic petrochemical inventories continued to be at a high level. Under the pressure of high inventory levels, the production load of some domestic devices has been reduced, which is also a major reason for the loss of output in April.

In the beginning of May, domestic polyolefin petrochemical stocks remained at around 950,000 tons. On the demand side, domestic demand from May to June will gradually enter the off-season. In terms of external demand, affected by the spread of new coronary pneumonia overseas, external demand has fallen seriously since April , PE packaging is also affected, it is expected that external demand will be difficult to recover before June.

On the whole, although the number of maintenance devices increased in May and the pressure on the market supply side is expected to decrease, the downstream demand from May to June is worrying. Overall, the supply pressure on the market in May is still large.