June 16 news
This week, the Chinese epichlorohydrin market continued to operate in a stable and mild manner, with overall prices remaining steady. The overall market atmosphere is light, with companies being cautious in their active offers, and downstream players mainly observing, showing insufficient buying interest. According to the monitoring and analysis system, as of June 16, the benchmark price for epichlorohydrin was 10,400 CNY/ton, a decrease of -0.95% compared to the beginning of this month.
Price Influencing Factors:
Raw Material Side: The raw material side continues to weaken, further eroding cost support. In East China, the price of 99.5% glycerin has continued its downward trend. The price of propylene, the key raw material, is also declining steadily. Overall, the sustained decline in raw material prices has directly undermined the cost support for ECH. According to the market analysis system, as of June 16, the benchmark price of propylene stood at 8,667.67 CNY per ton, down 5.11% from the beginning of the month (9,134.33 CNY per ton).
Supply side: The operating rates of enterprises are at a relatively low level. Multiple plants in Shandong Minji, Jiangsu Haixing, Hebei Zhuotai, Zhejiang Zhenyang, and Binhua Group are shut down, while Hebei Jinbang's 80,000-ton/year glycerol-based plant is running at low capacity. Enterprises are mainly focused on fulfilling previous orders, and there is no pressure on the current supply of spot goods.
On the demand side: Downstream demand remains persistently weak with no substantial improvement. Prices of downstream epoxy resins are largely stable with minor fluctuations, and end-users are only making purchases to meet immediate needs, resulting in limited new orders being placed. Overall market trading activity is subdued, and both downstream suppliers and end-users tend to adopt a wait-and-see approach.
Market Forecast: Epoxy Chloropropane analysts believe that with falling raw material prices, weakening cost support, relatively low operating rates on the supply side, and manageable spot market pressure—coupled with weak downstream demand—we expect the Chinese epoxy chloropropane market to remain largely stable in the short term. Further attention will still be needed on changes in raw material prices and shifts in market supply and demand.
