Recently, the deterioration of Sino-US relations has caused relative turbulence in the international situation, and the entire chemical industry has also performed flat. In July, the ex-factory prices of chemical raw materials and chemical products manufacturing industry fell by 0.1% month-on-month and 7.5% year-on-year.
However, there is one product-the price of propylene oxide continues to rise, becoming a star chemical product in the near future. According to Mobei market data, the average price of propylene oxide in East China on August 10 was 13,106 yuan/ton, which was nearly 80% higher than the price of 7,348 yuan/ton on April 10. At present, the price of propylene oxide has also hit a new high since November 2018.
The sharp increase in the price of propylene oxide has many driving factors, but the root cause is mainly due to the following three points:
1. Rising prices of upstream raw materials bring up costs
According to market data, the price of propylene in East China was 5824 yuan/ton on April 10, and it rose to 6955 yuan/ton on August 10, an increase of about 19.4%.
2. Centralized maintenance and reduced supply
The concentrated maintenance of domestic installations and the delayed arrival of imported goods in Hong Kong due to the impact of the overseas epidemic have caused domestic supply shortages. In addition, in mid-to-late July, the arrival of some ports in Saudi Arabia was delayed, and the source of Japanese goods was not yet available, resulting in insufficient supply of imported resources.
3. Downstream capacity increases and demand breaks
Recently, the export of polyether has recovered, and the overall start of domestic polyether factories has rebounded significantly. At the same time, since August, CNOOC and Shell, Wanhua, Innovate and other polyether expansion devices are planned to be put into production. It is estimated that since July, the domestic polyether plant's operating load has increased by at least 30-40%. The demand for propane oxide has grown substantially.
In the context of a 10% year-on-year decline in domestic apparent consumption of propylene oxide this year, the monthly growth rate of propylene oxide consumption in July reached 16%.
According to statistics, in 2019, the domestic production capacity of propylene oxide was about 3.33 million tons, the annual output was about 2.85 million tons, the apparent consumption was about 3.32 million tons, and the operating rate was relatively stable at a high level.
Propylene oxide, also known as propylene oxide and methyl ethylene oxide, is a very important raw material for organic compounds, and is the third largest propylene derivative after polypropylene and acrylonitrile. Propylene oxide is a colorless ether liquid, low boiling point and flammable. Propylene oxide is mainly used to produce polyether polyol, propylene glycol and various non-ionic surfactants. Among them, polyether polyol is an important raw material for the production of polyurethane foam, insulation materials, elastomers, adhesives and coatings. Ionic surfactants are widely used in petroleum, chemical, pesticide, textile, daily chemical and other industries. At the same time, propylene oxide is also an important basic chemical raw material.
Source: Mobile Public Account
