Entering August, the domestic maleic anhydride market continues to decline

August 19, News

According to the commodity analysis system, as we entered the month, the market for maleic anhydride in China continued to decline. As of August 19th, the average market price for n-butane oxidation method maleic anhydride remained at 5,692.50 CNY/ton, a decrease of 2.90% from 5,862.50 CNY/ton on August 1st.

Supply side: In August, the maleic anhydride market continued to decline, mainly due to the increased supply from the northeast region with more products available for sale, leading to a cautious market operation. Additionally, as the auction prices in Yantai continued to fall, factories followed suit by lowering their prices. Currently, Wanhua Yantai's three production lines are operating at 70% capacity, and Hubei Zhongneng's liquid anhydride facility has already started producing and storing. Recently, downstream unsaturated resins manufacturers have been maintaining just-in-time inventory, primarily adopting a wait-and-see approach. As of August 19, in Shandong, the factory price of solid anhydride is around 5,400 CNY/ton, and that of liquid anhydride is around 4,650 CNY/ton.

Upstream: The butane market initially declined before rebounding in early August, with prices in Shandong hovering around 4,580 CNY/ton as of August 19.

Downstream: Currently, the market for unsaturated resins is mainly stable. As it is currently in the off-season for consumption of unsaturated resins, downstream transactions are average, providing limited support to the unsaturated resins market, resulting in a weak market situation.

The maleic anhydride product analyst believes that currently, the market for unsaturated resins, which is the main downstream sector for maleic anhydride, is weak, leading to limited procurement of maleic anhydride; in addition, the current supply of maleic anhydride in the Chinese market is sufficient. It is expected that the maleic anhydride market in China will mainly undergo a weak consolidation in the near future.