The price of isopropanol rose 75 percent in three weeks as overseas demand

Prices of a niche chemical called isopropanol soared as new outbreaks spread overseas.

In early April, domestic prices for isopropanol were close to 10,000 yuan per ton, up about 75% in the past three weeks, according to several chemical market consultants.
Isopropanol is sold at a higher price, nearly $2,000 a ton, to Europe and the United States.

Jin lianchuang chemical analyst wang juanjuan told jiamian.com that the price of isopropanol has reached a new high since October 2014.
In China, isopropanol is usually used as a solvent, such as in the electronics industry as a cleaning agent.In foreign countries, this colorless transparent liquid is the main raw material of disinfectant.Compared with the more familiar alcohol in China, the disinfectant made of isopropanol is more popular in overseas markets.
In march, the outbreak began to intensify abroad, leading to a surge in demand for isopropanol in the European Union and the United States.In the first two months of this year, domestic exports of isopropanol totaled about 8,493 tons, and were estimated to have exceeded 20,000 tons in March, an increase of more than 1.3 times, jlci said.

In mid-march, the domestic market price of isopropanol was about 5,700 yuan per ton, still at the low point since the beginning of the year.Since then, prices have soared.

Long zhong information analyst xu shinan said that at the beginning of the year, the domestic outbreak caused a delay in the start of enterprises, the downstream demand for isopropanol is relatively small, its price after the Spring Festival all the way down.But as export orders have increased, the daily increase in isopropanol has often reached hundreds of yuan per ton since mid-march.
Isopropanol prices soared, also became the capital market speculation theme.Since March 18, the stock price of xinhua (603867.sh) has risen by the daily limit for four consecutive days.As of the close on April 2, its shares closed at 30.37 yuan, up 51% in half a month.

Xinhua's annual capacity of isopropanol is 50,000 tons, which belongs to the second tier of domestic manufacturers.
Currently, three domestic producers have an annual capacity of 100,000 tons of isopropanol, namely jinzhou petrochemical, jiangsu kailing chemical and shandong dadi supu chemical.

According to data provided by longzhong information, the national annual capacity of isopropanol is about 750,000 tons, and the actual output is about 56,000 tons per month after taking out unstarted capacity.

In the face of share price fluctuations, xinhua shares published a notice to warn investors of risks.'the sustainability of price fluctuations in isopropanol is uncertain, as is the impact on operating results,' the company said.
In xu's view, if there is no new domestic production capacity of isopropanol, the chemical is still very tight in the short term, until the middle of April, its prices still keep rising momentum.

According to xu, some downstream customers in China have given up on high-priced isopropanol and are looking for alternatives.