On February 24, Russia launched war against Ukraine. Affected by this, Brent crude oil rose strongly, reaching the 100-yuan mark for the first time since September 2014. After Russia launched military operations against Ukraine, the United States, the European Union, Japan and others have joined in imposing sanctions on Russia. Finance, foreign trade, energy and other industries have become key areas for sanctions.
Affected by this, polyester raw materials and polyester filament also received a boost. However, as the surge in Brent crude oil fell rapidly, the fluctuations of polyester raw materials such as PTA and ethylene glycol also experienced abnormal fluctuations.
However, in addition to polyester raw materials, PBT, which has always been favored by polyester big guys, has been soaring and has quietly increased by more than 1,000!
Judging from the market situation, there was not much stocking in the PBT market before the holiday. After the holiday, demand slowly recovered and crude oil experienced a sharp rise, followed closely by the price increase notices from BASF and DuPont!
On February 11, BASF issued a price increase notice stating that starting from February 16, it will increase the price of Ultramid® series of high-performance materials in the Asia-Pacific region! The highest increase is 5078 yuan/ton! Among them, the price of non-flame-retardant PBT products will be increased by US$300/ton; the price of flame-retardant PBT products will be increased by US$800/ton.
On January 17, DuPont Transportation and Materials Division (M&M) issued a price increase notice for PA, PBT, POM, TPC and other products, which will take effect from February 15, with the highest increase being as high as 8,880 yuan/ton!
In addition, BDO, the upstream raw material of PBT, has stopped falling and rebounded, with the price soaring by 2,800 yuan/ton. As of February 23, the bidding price of the northwest factory reached 28,000 yuan/ton, which was good for many parties, and the price of PBT followed suit!
Affected by the high cost of PBT, some manufacturers have been negotiating one by one and not quoting for the time being.
▶ On February 24, Shandong Weijiao Group’s subsidiary Weifang Zhenxing Risheng PBT will not quote prices for the time being;
▶ On February 24, Sinopec Yizheng Chemical Fiber PBT price increased;
▶ On February 24th, Wuxi Xingsheng PBT quotation will not be made public for the time being, and will be discussed one by one;
▶ On February 24, there will be no quotation for Xinjiang Lanshan Tunhe for the time being. The preliminary quotation reference: PBT brand TH6100 reference quotation is 19,000 yuan/ton acceptance, and the actual offer negotiation is the main thing;
▶ On February 24, Changchun Chemical (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd.’s PBT ex-factory quotation was increased by 500 yuan/ton, and negotiations were mainly based on firm offers;
Hengli Kanghui PBAT has received multiple downstream orders
BASF expands its PA and PBT production capacity in Malaysia
In recent years, with the advancement of the “strictest plastic restriction order”, the layout of related industrial chains has accelerated, and the degradable plastics industry has ushered in new opportunities for development.
The field of degradable plastics is in the ascendant and has broad market space. According to incomplete statistics, there are currently many degradable bioplastic projects under construction/planned by listed companies and unlisted companies, involving more than 50 billion yuan in funds. Due to its excellent performance, mature production technology and high degree of industrialization, PBAT has become a mainstream product in the degradable plastic industry and has broad development prospects.
Hengli Petrochemical, the leading polyester company, has deployed the degradable plastics industry many times to seize the PBT track! Its subsidiary Hengli Kanghui New Material Technology Co., Ltd. invested in the construction of a PBS biodegradable project with an annual output of 33,000 tons in early 2020, and successfully started the project on December 25 of that year, successfully producing qualified products. The project, with a total investment of 150 million yuan, is located in the Xianrendao Energy and Chemical Industry Zone in Yingkou City.
In August 2021, the environmental impact report (before approval) of the Hengli Kanghui annual production of 150,000 tons of PBS biodegradable plastics project was announced. This project plans to build Hengli’s first 100,000-ton degradable plastic device, which is of great significance to Hengli’s biodegradable materials layout. It will expand the production of the 33,000-ton PBAT project and start the implementation of the 300,000-ton project.
On September 22, 2021, Hengli Kanghui’s new biodegradable materials project with an annual output of 450,000 tons officially started construction. The project has a total investment of 1.8 billion yuan and uses independently developed process technology and formulas. It mainly constructs the above-mentioned two major projects of 150,000 tons/year PBS biodegradable plastics and 300,000 tons/year PBAT biodegradable plastics.
The research report pointed out that with the entire petroleum refining and chemical industry chain configuration, Hengli Petrochemical can achieve self-sufficiency in the upstream raw materials for modified plastics, PBT and PBAT, with outstanding scale and cost advantages. The smooth production of PBT/PBAT modified products will also significantly increase the added value of the company’s PBT/PBAT products.
In addition to the internal supply of PTA, Hengli also has plans for BDO and AA, the other raw materials of PBAT. In March 2021, Hengli Energy (Yulin) New Materials Co., Ltd. passed the registration review of the 1.8 million tons/year BDO project. The project is located in Qingshui Industrial Park, Yushen Industrial Zone, Yulin City, Shaanxi Province, with a total investment of 20.8 billion yuan and planned construction of 1.8 million yuan. tons/year BDO, 180,000 tons/year PBAT, etc. In addition, Hengli Petrochemical plans to build a PBAT material supporting chemical project worth 2.311 billion yuan, including 300,000 tons of AA.
In November 2021, the PBT/PBAT modified product development project independently developed by Hengli Kanghui New Materials with an annual output of 30,000 tons was successfully launched and produced qualified products. At present, the modified plastic products produced by Kanghui New Materials have obtained multiple Downstream ordering�.
From abroad, chemical giants are also making frequent moves. Recently, BASF (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd will expand the production capacity of Ultramid® polyamide (PA) and Ultradur® polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) products by 5,000 tons/ Year.
BASF’s production base in Pasir Gudang, Malaysia, plans to complete the elimination of bottlenecks in the second quarter of 2023. Andy Postlethwaite, Senior Vice President of BASF Performance Materials Asia Pacific, said: “BASF is committed to the engineering plastics market, which we believe offers significant growth opportunities. The additional capacity will help us meet the strong market demand for Ultramid PA and Ultradur PBT products. , and strengthen our market position, especially in the ASEAN region.”
The engineering plastics market in the ASEAN region is expected to grow at an annual rate of approximately 5% between 2020 and 2030. This growth is driven by increasing demand for engineering plastics in different industry segments such as automotive, consumer electronics, and electrical and electronics.
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