Seriously out of stock? In response to the epidemic, BASF and LANXESS announced that they would stop supplying until the end of May!

Recently, raw materials at home and abroad have risen in a mess, PS profits have suffered miserably in Waterloo, and more and more production has been stopped and reduced. Under the negative situation of falling crude oil and non-receiving downstream, the prices of some raw materials have finally begun to callback.

However, the overseas epidemic counterattacked, PA, PBT, etc. were out of stock! Under the imbalance of supply and demand, the road to callback is easier said than done...

Raw materials are in short supply,
BASF and LANXESS declare force majeure!

Under the counter-attack of overseas epidemics, many countries have closed down cities and suspended flights. The shortage of raw materials may be difficult to improve. If some large factories declare force majeure to stop production, the prices of raw materials that are in short supply will likely continue to soar!

▶▶BASF discontinued PA66
On April 21, BASF stated that they received a force majeure notice from raw material suppliers on Monday. Raw materials such as adiponitrile (ADN), hexamethylene diamine (HMD), and AH-salt will all reduce the supply. This directly affected the supply of BASF's PA66 products (Ultramid® A and Ultramid® C, Capron® PA66). Therefore, BASF announced that all PA66-based products have encountered force majeure, effective immediately. At this stage, the duration of force majeure is unpredictable.

▶▶Lanxess announced the suspension of delivery
On April 18th, LANXESS stated: Due to the recent force majeure event, the supply of our key raw materials has been affected and cannot be replaced in the short term. We have to stop the production of PBT polymerization and composite production lines. Starting today, we cannot produce Pocan products for at least 5 weeks! Therefore, delivery will be suspended!

▶▶PA6 prices continue to increase
On April 22, the price of Jiangsu Hongsheng PA6 chips increased by 600 CNY/ton;
On April 22, Luxi Chemical's PA6 chip price increased by 300-500 CNY/ton;
On April 21, the price of Yueyang Baling PA6 chips was raised for the second time, with an increase of 200-500 CNY/ton;

▶▶The price increases of pigments, fillers, lotions, etc. fly together
On April 20, Huayuan Pigment issued a price adjustment letter, deciding to increase the sales price of iron oxide pigments from May 1st: red, yellow, and black products are all increased by 500 CNY/ton (80 US dollars/ton).

Guangdong Kled (Landberg) New Materials Co., Ltd. issued a letter stating that the price of acrylic industrial products will increase by RMB 1,000-1,500/ton, and the price of epoxy/alkyd/resin products will increase by RMB 2,000-3,000/ton.

Shenzhen Meililian Titanium Industry Co., Ltd. issued a letter stating that from April 21st, the sales price of various types of titanium dioxide products will be increased by 1,000 CNY/ton based on the original sales price, and the diffusion aid products will be adjusted according to the actual situation.

Shenzhen Langmai New Materials issued a letter stating that from April 15th, the price of the entire series of epoxy floor products will be adjusted, and the price will be increased by 10-15% on the basis of the adjustment on April 1, and only cash transactions will be supported.

Hefei Ketai Powder Materials issued a letter stating that the price of BYK961 products will be increased by 2 yuan/kg (2000 CNY/ton) from the original basis from April 15th.

The epidemic in India is completely out of control,
Panic is sweeping the oil market!

Worried that the worsening of the epidemic will inhibit the growth of energy demand, coupled with the unexpected increase in U.S. commercial crude oil inventories last week, international oil prices continued to fall by more than 2%.

At present, the epidemic situation in India has been completely out of control, with 315,000 newly confirmed cases yesterday. This is the highest record since the outbreak of the epidemic in India, and it has almost surpassed the highest record of 325,000 in the United States.

India is the world's third largest oil importer, with an average daily crude oil import volume of 5 million barrels. The market is worried that India’s soaring infections will depress fuel demand in the world’s third-largest oil importer.

On the whole, after the price of crude oil has risen and fallen, the short-term market will still linger in a relatively weak range. It is not ruled out that the Brent price will return to around $60 again.

Profits are "Waterloo",
GPPS will stop the wave of production cuts!

As the price of styrene has risen sharply, GPPS's profits have gradually shrunk, and the extent of its losses has been gradually expanding. In mid-to-late April, GPPS manufacturers complained repeatedly and started to reduce and stop production frequently.

As of April 21, the average operating rate of domestic PS devices dropped to 78.83%, a drop of 10 percentage points from the beginning of April, and there is still a possibility of a drop in the near future. Among them, the production reduction and shutdown devices are mostly low-end benzene-permeable GPPS devices, and some of the devices are converted to benzene production.

With the continued strength of pure benzene, the sharp decline in port inventory, and some short-fill operations, the styrene market was easily pushed to a price above 10,000 yuan, an increase of 46%, while the increase in PS was far less than the increase in raw styrene , It only rose 15% over the same period.
Flour is more expensive than bread, and it is difficult for GPPS companies to pass on cost pressures and can only take measures to stop production. As of April 20, 2021, China's GPPS profit was -425 CNY/ton, a decrease of 1125 CNY/ton from the same period last month, and a decrease of -2140 CNY/ton from the same period last year.

In the future, if the profit of GPPS still cannot be improved, the PS parking area may increase again.

Ministry of Industry and Information Technology: Take measures to promote stable raw material prices

On April 20th, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a sound again, believing that the current round of commodity price increases will have an impact on the manufacturing industry, but this impact is generally controllable. In addition, it directly stated that measures will be taken to stabilize raw material prices! Fight against monopoly, malicious hype and other behaviors!

The first is to strengthen operation monitoring and price supervision, stabilize market expectations, release operating conditions in a timely manner, provide guidance on public opinion, and prevent panic buying or stockpiling in the market. Cooperate with relevant departments to resolutely crack down on illegal activities such as monopolistic market and malicious speculation.

The second is to support upstream and downstream enterprises to establish long-term stable cooperative relations, coordinate to respond to market price fluctuation risks, and encourage smelting enterprises and processing enterprises to conduct futures hedging transactions.