China's Chemical Industry and Petroleum Prices Rose across the Board at the End of 2023

Last week (December 25-29, 2023), China's chemical index and petroleum index all rose.

In the chemical sector, the chemical raw materials index rose by 2.88%, the chemical machinery index rose by 1.48%, the chemical pharmaceutical index rose by 1.87%, and the pesticide and fertilizer index rose by 3.54%.

In the petroleum sector, the petroleum processing index rose by 3.91%, the oil extraction index rose by 3.11%, and the oil trade index rose by 2.65%.

In terms of energy, affected by the Red Sea shipping crisis last week, international crude oil prices first rose and then fell. As of December 29, 2023, the settlement price of the main West Texas Light crude oil futures contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was US$71.65/barrel, a decrease of 2.60% month-on-month; the settlement price of the main Brent crude oil futures contract on the Intercontinental Exchange was US$77.04/barrel, a month-on-month decrease of 2.23%.

Looking at the spot market, the top five petrochemical products with the largest increase were vitamin VE with an increase of 8.49%, styrene-butadiene rubber with an increase of 7.34%, adipic acid with an increase of 6.83%, butadiene with an increase of 6.64%, and butadiene rubber with an increase of 5.65%.

The top five petrochemical products with the largest declines were liquid chlorine down 55.83%, industrial grade lithium carbonate down 14.95%, lithium battery separators down 9.62%, hydrogen peroxide down 7.24%, and dimethylformamide down 6.77%.

Looking at the capital market, the top five listed Chinese companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges last week were Jiangsu Shuangxiang Group (up 47.87%), Tongyi Carbon Neutral Energy (Xinjiang) Co., Ltd. (up 33.75%), Hangzhou Kaida Metal Catalyst and Compounds Co.,Ltd. (up 31.56%), Daoming Optics and Chemical Co., Ltd. (up 31.21%), and Kunming Chuan Jin Nuo Chemical Co., Ltd. (up 25.94%).

The top five listed Chinese chemical companies with the largest declines were Longyan Kaolin Clay Co., Ltd., which fell by 14.75%, Xinxiang Richful Lube Additive Co., Ltd., which fell by 9.97%, Chtc Helon, which fell by 6.94%, Mingchen Health Co., Ltd., which fell by 6.90%, and Hongda Xingye Co., Ltd., which fell by 6.45%.