Dropped 6,000 CNY/ton! More Than 50 Chemicals Fell!

Recently, the quotations of "lithium family" products, which have been rising for nearly a year, have fallen sharply. The average price of battery-grade lithium carbonate fell by 2,000 CNY/ton, below the 500,000 CNY/ton mark. Compared with this year's highest price of 504,000 CNY/ton, it has dropped by 6,000 CNY/ton, and it has also ended the spectacular situation of the 10-fold increase in the past year. People can't help but sigh that the trend has passed and the "inflection point" has come.

Wanhua, Lihuayi, Hualu Hengsheng and other intensive downgrades! More than 50 kinds of chemical products fell!

According to industry insiders, the supply chain has been affected under the influence of the epidemic, and some car companies have stopped production and the market is expected to reduce the demand for lithium salts. The downstream spot purchase intention is extremely low, and the overall lithium product market is in a state of yin decline, resulting in weaker spot transactions in the market recently. It is worth noting that whether it is the impact of suppliers caused by the epidemic, or the reduction of purchasing intentions caused by the shutdown of downstream customers, these are the severe situations that the chemical market is currently facing. Similar to lithium carbonate, more than 50 domestic chemical products began to show a downward trend in prices in the second quarter. In just ten days, some chemical products fell by over 6,000 CNY/ton, a drop of nearly 20%.

Maleic anhydride is currently quoted at 9950 CNY/ton, down 2483.33 CNY/ton from the beginning of the month, or 19.97%;

DMF is currently quoted at 12,450 CNY/ton, down 2,100 CNY/ton from the beginning of the month, or 14.43%;

The current price of glycine is 23666.67 CNY/ton, down 3166.66 CNY/ton from the beginning of the month, a decrease of 11.80%;

The current price of acrylic acid is 13666.67 CNY/ton, down 1633.33 CNY/ton from the beginning of the month, a decrease of 10.68%;

Propylene glycol is currently quoted at 12,933.33 CNY/ton, down 1,200 CNY/ton from the beginning of the month, or 8.49%;

The current price of mixed xylene is 7260 CNY/ton, down 600 CNY/ton from the beginning of the month, a decrease of 7.63%;

Acetone is currently quoted at 5440 CNY/ton, down 420 CNY/ton from the beginning of the month, or 7.17%;
The current price of melamine is 11,233.33 CNY/ton, down 700 CNY/ton or 5.87% from the beginning of the month;

The current price of calcium carbide is 4,200 CNY/ton, down 233.33 CNY/ton from the beginning of the month, or 5.26%;

The current price of aggregated MDI is 18,640 CNY/ton, down 676.67 CNY/ton from the beginning of the month, or 3.50%;

1,4-Butanediol is currently quoted at 26,480 CNY/ton, down 760 CNY/ton or 2.79% from the beginning of the month;

Epoxy resin is currently quoted at 25,425 CNY/ton, down 450 CNY/ton or 1.74% from the beginning of the month;

The current price of yellow phosphorus is 36166.67 CNY/ton, down 583.33 CNY/ton from the beginning of the month, or 1.59%;

The current price of lithium carbonate is 475,400 CNY/ton, down 6,000 CNY/ton from the beginning of the month, or 1.25%.

Behind the declining chemical market, there are numerous downgrade notices issued by many chemical companies. It is understood that recently Wanhua Chemical, Sinopec, Lihuayi, Hualu Hengsheng and many other chemical companies announced product reductions, and the price per ton was generally reduced by about 100 yuan.

The quotation of Lihuayi isooctanol fell by RMB 200/ton to RMB 12,500/ton.

Hualu Hengsheng's isooctanol quotation fell by 200 CNY/ton to 12,700 CNY/ton.

The price of Yangzhou Shiyou phenol was lowered by 150 CNY/ton to 10,350 CNY/ton.

The price of phenol of Gaoqiao Petrochemical was lowered by 150 CNY/ton to 10,350 CNY/ton.

Jiangsu Xinhai Petrochemical's propylene price was lowered by 50 CNY/ton to 8,100 CNY/ton.

Shandong Haike Chemical's latest offer for propylene was lowered by 100 CNY/ton to 8,350 CNY/ton.

Yanshan Petrochemical's acetone price was lowered by 150 CNY/ton to 5,400 CNY/ton.

The price of acetone of Sino-Saudi Tianjin Petrochemical was lowered by 150 CNY/ton and executed by 5,500 CNY/ton.

Sinopec's pure benzene price was lowered by 150 CNY/ton to 8,450 CNY/ton.

Wanhua Chemical's butadiene offer in Shandong region fell by 600 CNY/ton to 10,700 CNY/ton.

Northern Huajin's butadiene auction reserve price was lowered by 510 CNY/ton to 9,500 CNY/ton.

The price of Dalian Hengli butadiene was lowered by RMB 300/ton to RMB 10,410/ton.

Sinopec Huazhong Sales Company lowered the price of butadiene of Wuhan Petrochemical by 300 CNY/ton, and implemented 10,700 CNY/ton.

The price of butadiene of Sinopec South China Sales Company was lowered by 300 CNY/ton: Guangzhou Petrochemical performed 10,700 CNY/ton, Maoming Petrochemical performed 10,650 CNY/ton, and Zhongke Refining and Chemical performed 10,600 CNY/ton.

Taiwan's Chi Mei ABS offer fell 500 CNY/ton to 17,500 CNY/ton.

Shandong Haijiang ABS offer fell 250 CNY/ton to 14,100 CNY/ton.

Ningbo LG Yongxing ABS offer fell 250 CNY/ton to 13,100 CNY/ton.

The quotation of Jiaxing Teijin PC products fell by RMB 200/ton to RMB 20,800/ton.

The quotation of Lotte Advanced Materials PC products fell by RMB 300/ton to RMB 20,200/ton.

Shanghai Huntsman's April pure MDI barreled/bulk water listing price was 25,800 CNY/ton, down 1,000 CNY/ton from the previous month.

Wanhua Chemical's listing price of pure MDI in China is 25,800 CNY/ton (down 1,000 CNY/ton from the price in March).

The supply chain is broken and supply and demand are weak, and chemicals may continue to fall

Many people said that the increase in the chemical market has continued for about a year, and many people in the industry expect that the increase will continue in the first half of the year, but this increase has died down in the second quarter. Why? This is closely related to several recent "black swan" events.

In the first quarter of 2022, the overall performance of the domestic chemical products market was strong. The crude oil and other commodity markets continued to rise strongly, and the chemical market was hotly traded. Although the actual orders at the lower end of the industrial chain were insufficiently followed up, the market once weakened, but with the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war , the energy crisis worries continue to ferment, further driving the domestic chemical market into a super-rising cycle, and the "inflation" level of chemical products continues to rise.

But this "superficial prosperity" bubble was rapidly bursting in the second quarter. The epidemic spread in many places, and many places began to "close cities". The whole city of Shanghai implemented differentiated prevention and control management according to three categories: closed control areas, control areas, and prevention areas. Among them, there were 11,135 closed control areas, involving a population of 15.01 million. Jilin, Hebei and other places have also closed related areas recently, vigorously fighting the epidemic and curbing the spread.

More than a dozen regions in China have been closed at high speed and logistics have been shut down, affecting the procurement of raw materials and sales of goods, and supply chain disruptions have also occurred in many chemical sub-sectors. The sealing and control of the place of delivery, the sealing and control of the place of receipt, the outage of logistics, the isolation of drivers... Various problems have arisen one after another, most of China cannot deliver goods, the entire chemical industry has entered a state of chaos, and the supply side and demand side have suffered double blows. The chemical market Move forward under pressure.

Due to the rupture of the supply chain, the sales of some chemical products are blocked. The company insists on the strategy of securing orders at low prices. Even if it is a loss, it must retain customers and maintain market share, so there is a situation where prices drop again and again. Affected by the mentality of buying up and not buying down, the downstream purchase intention is low. It is expected that the short-term domestic chemical market will be weak and consolidated, and the possibility that the market trend will continue to decline cannot be ruled out.

In addition, the current peripheral industries are also changing day by day. The United States and its allies have released a negative market atmosphere on a large scale. International crude oil prices have fallen from high levels. The domestic epidemic prevention and control situation is severe. Under the influence of the Qingming holiday and the double negative impact of cost and demand, the trading vitality of the domestic chemical market has declined.

At present, the epidemic situation in many places in China is severe, logistics and transportation are not smooth, chemical enterprises temporarily reduce production and stop production, and the phenomenon of shutdown and maintenance increases. The operating rate is even lower than 50%, which can be called "flat". It is gradually turning into a weak run. Under the combined effect of various factors such as weak domestic demand, weakening external demand, the raging epidemic, and external tension, the chemical market may experience a downturn in the short term.