Last week, the epoxy resin market was weak, and the prices in the industry fell ceaselessly, which was generally bearish. In the week, the raw material bisphenol A operated at a low level, and the other raw material, epichlorohydrin, fluctuated downward in a narrow range. The overall raw material cost weakened its support for spot goods. The dual raw materials continued to decline in a weak way, and the resin market demand did not improve. Multiple adverse factors led to the inability to find a good reason for the price of epoxy resin. The quotations of the second and third tier brands LER in the market have been delivered at 15800 yuan/ton. The prices of major mainstream manufacturers have fallen to the lowest level this year, and there is still an expectation of price reduction.
Last week, a large factory in Jiangsu stopped for maintenance, and the load of other plants changed little. The overall starting load decreased compared with last week. During the week, downstream demand was sluggish, and the atmosphere of new orders was light. Only on last Wednesday, the atmosphere of inquiry and replenishment was slightly improved, but it was still dominated by just needed replenishment. The pressure on resin manufacturers to ship is high, and some factories have heard that the inventory is slightly high. There is much margin in the offer, and the focus of market trading is lower.
Bisphenol A: Last week, the capacity utilization rate of domestic bisphenol A plants was 62.27%, down 6.57 percentage points from November 3. In this week’s South Asia plastic shutdown and maintenance, Nantong Star Bisphenol A Plant is scheduled to be shut down for maintenance for one week on November 7, and Changchun Chemical Industry is scheduled to be shut down for maintenance for two lines (the first line of which will be shut down due to failure on November 6, which is expected to be one week). Huizhou Zhongxin is temporarily shut down for 3-4 days, and there is no obvious fluctuation in the load of other units. Therefore, the capacity utilization rate of domestic bisphenol A plant decreases.
Epichlorohydrin: Last week, the capacity utilization rate of domestic epichlorohydrin industry was 61.58%, up 1.98%. In the week, Dongying Liancheng 30000 t/a propylene plant was shut down on October 26. At present, chloropropene is the main product, and epichlorohydrin has not been restarted, and it is in the process of follow-up; The daily output of epichlorohydrin of Binhua Group increased to 125 tons to balance the upstream hydrogen chloride; Ningbo Zhenyang 40000 t/a glycerol process plant was restarted on November 2, and the current daily output is about 100 tons; Dongying Hebang, Hebei Jiaao and Hebei Zhuotai are still in the state of parking, and the restart time is following up; The operation of other enterprises has little change.
Future market forecast
Bisphenol A market turnover picked up slightly over the weekend, and downstream factories were more cautious in entering the market. Market analysts believe that: the mentality of buyers and sellers will continue to play games next week, with limited changes in short-term fundamentals. The weak expectations brought by the new device will suppress the market mentality, and the market is expected to adjust around the cost line.
Cyclic chloride continued to run wild. The high social inventory and the rumors that the North South double units will be put into production next month made the market people cautious and the wait-and-see atmosphere in the market remained unchanged. According to the analysis of insiders, although the current market is temporarily stable, it is very likely that the future market will continue to decline.
The LER market supply not only has the incremental production of maintenance devices, but also has new forces entering the market. It is understood that the epoxy plant in Wuzhong, Zhejiang (Shanghai Yuanbang No.2 Factory) was successfully put into a trial run a few days ago. After the second batch, the color of the product has reached about 15 #. If it continues to remain stable in the future, the product will not enter the market for long. LER will continue its weak callback, with demand mainly for rigid procurement, and it is hard to see signs of recovery in the short term.