Recently, SABIC issued a letter announcing that due to the imbalance between supply and demand, the prices of some products in North America will increase starting from May 17:
LEXAN™ (PC) resin increased by US$0.75/ Kilogram (approximately 4873.6 yuan/ton).
CYCOLOY™ (ABS) resin increased by US$0.75/kg (approximately 4873.6 yuan/ton).
VALOX™ (PBT) flame retardant resin increased by US$0.75/kg (approximately 4873.6 yuan/ton).
XENOY™ (PC/PET) resin increased by US$0.75/kg (approximately 4873.6 yuan/ton).
XYLEX™ (PC/polyester alloy) resin increased by US$2.5/kg (approximately 16245.3 yuan/ton).
At the same time, BASF issued three notices declaring force majeure.
On the 21st, BASF stated that it received a force majeure notice from its raw material supplier on Monday. Raw materials such as adiponitrile (ADN), hexamethylene diamine (HMD), and AH-salt were all affected. Supply will be reduced. This directly affects the supply of BASF’s PA66 products (Ultramid® A and Ultramid® C, Capron® PA66). Therefore, BASF declares force majeure on all PA66-based products, effective immediately. At this stage, the duration of force majeure cannot be predicted.
On the 19th, BASF announced that its European companies have recently declared a force majeure declaration on some key raw materials, resulting in a shortage of raw materials. The force majeure of PBT/ULTRADUR® polymers and compounds will take effect immediately.
On the 19th, BASF announced that due to force majeure in the supply of raw materials such as adiponitrile (ADN), HMD, 2PN, and AH salt, the time to resume supply is uncertain. Therefore, BASF announced that it will declare force majeure on the supply of Ultramid® A, Ultramid® AC polymers and other products starting from the date of the announcement.
DuPont issued a “Supplementary Notice of Force Majeure Regarding Crastin PBT Products”: Due to the production of purified terephthalic acid (PTA), one of the key raw materials required to manufacture Crastin PBT polymer. After the main supplier INEOS declared force majeure on March 2, 2021, it is currently unable to determine the future supply time. DuPont’s German PBT production plant closed on April 15, 2021, and will remain closed until sufficient raw materials are available. DuPont said that currently, the severe shortage will last until June 2021.
The large chemical factory’s increase in price by 16245.3 yuan/ton caused by the imbalance between supply and demand surprised most people. According to the Paint Purchasing Network, following the “skyrocketing surge” in the chemical market in the first quarter, the key word for the chemical market in the second quarter became “tight supply and rising prices.” The imbalance between supply and demand mentioned by SABIC is also prevalent in the domestic market. Whether it is the company’s voluntary shutdown for maintenance, the forced “customs reform and relocation”, or the recent tightening of environmental protection inspections and local inspections, etc., these factors will affect the existing market. The chemical industry, with tight supplies and short supply, has taken another step towards the “abyss”.
Nearly a hundred chemical companies will be shut down for maintenance for up to 95 days
According to public information, petrochemical plants have entered a period of centralized maintenance from April to May, operating rates will continue to decline, and manufacturers have limited inventories. Due to the epidemic last year, most companies rushed to work overtime in the second half of the year to produce, and some companies postponed equipment maintenance until 2021. Therefore, the equipment shutdown and maintenance situation this year is even worse than in previous years. Nearly a hundred chemical companies, including Lihuayi, Fushun Petrochemical, Jilin Petrochemical, Sinopec Mitsubishi, Maoming Petrochemical, Yanshan Petrochemical, etc., have recently been shut down for maintenance or are about to undergo maintenance, involving ethylene glycol, epoxy resin, pure benzene, and bisphenol. A. Dozens of chemical raw materials such as propylene. The cycle time ranges from 10 to 50 days, and some companies have parking periods as long as 95 days.
Ethylene Glycol MEG
Lihuayi and Yigao stopped short during the week and were in the red. Stopped for maintenance, Inner Mongolia Yankuang downgraded to stop. At present, 2 units of Henan Coal Industry, 300,000 tons of Xinjiang Tianye Phase II, 200,000 tons of Hubei Fertilizer, and 1 unit of Yangmei Coal are in long-term parking status.
Pure Benzene
Zhenghe Petrochemical 50,000 tons/year pure benzene unit May 2021- Shut down for maintenance in June.
Dalian Fujia Dahua’s 350,000 tons/year pure benzene unit will undergo maintenance for 50 days from May 20, 2021 to July 10, 2021.
Fushun Petrochemical’s 280,000 tons/year pure benzene unit will undergo maintenance for 40 days from April 5, 2021 to May 15, 2021.
Jilin Petrochemical’s 240,000 tons/year pure benzene unit will undergo maintenance for 45 days from May 20, 2021 to July 20, 2021.
Zhenhai Refinery’s 200,000 tons/year pure benzene unit will undergo maintenance for 15 days from May 20, 2021 to June 4, 2021.
Shanghai Petrochemical’s 150,000 tons/year pure benzene unit will be inspected for 95 days from March 10, 2021 to June 13, 2021.
Shanghai Petrochemical’s 550,000 tons/year pure benzene plant will undergo maintenance for 60 days from April 15, 2021 to June 13, 2021.
Styrene
North Huajin 15+27,000 tons/year styrene plant in 2021 From July 15th to August 15th, the entire factory will be inspected for one month.
Jilin Petrochemical’s 140,000+320,000 tons/year styrene unit will be inspected throughout the plant from May to June 2021.
Fushun Petrochemical’s 60,000 tons/year styrene unit will be shut down for maintenance for 45 days on April 5, 2021.
The 500,000 tons/year styrene plant in Dagu, Tianjin, plans to shut down for maintenance for 20 days on May 5, 2021.
Maoming Petrochemical’s 100,000 tons/year styrene unit will be shut down for maintenance for 30 days in June 2021.
Xinpu Chemical’s 320,000 tons/year styrene unit will be shut down for maintenance for 25 days from October to November 2021, and will be shut down for maintenance for 12-14 days on January 12, 2021.
Qilu Petrochemical’s 200,000 tons/year styrene unit will undergo maintenance for 50 days in August 2021.
The first phase of CNOOC’s 700,000 tons/year styrene plant will undergo a 50-day cracking overhaul in late October 2021.
Shandong Yuhuang 2# 250,000 tons/year styrene plant will be shut down for maintenance for about 40 days from May to June 2021.
Phenol and ketone
Yanshan Petrochemical 300,000 tons/year phenol and ketone The device will be shut down for maintenance on March 26 and is expected to be put into operation in mid-May.
Gaoqiao Petrochemical’s 250,000 tons/year phenol and ketone unit is scheduled to be inspected from May 6 to May 29.
Jilin Petrochemical’s phenol and ketone plant plans to shut down for maintenance in May, which is expected to last 45 days.
Bisphenol A
Sinopec Mitsubishi’s 180,000 tons/year bisphenol A plant planned for April Maintenance lasts for 45 days from early to mid-May.
LG Chem’s 450,000 tons/year bisphenol A unit plans to undergo a 15-day maintenance in May.
Kumho 450,000 tons/year bisphenol A plans to overhaul two lines in May (Line 2 plans to shut down for 20 days from May to June).
PP unit
India’s Haildia 350,000 tons/year PP unit is planned to be launched in mid-May -Stop for maintenance in mid-June.
India’s 440,000 tons/year PP unit for MRPL series products plans to shut down for maintenance from early May to the end of May.
EVA
Yanshan Petrochemical’s 200,000 tons/year EVA unit has been shut down for maintenance since March 30 45 days.
Beijing Huamei’s 60,000 tons/year EVA plant is in long-term parking.
Epoxy resin:
April 20, Langfang, Hebei Norson’s epoxy resin production capacity of 60,000 tons/year device is shut down for maintenance. The start-up time is to be determined and the inventory is empty.
Environmental protection supervision and local inspections have become stricter, and some companies have suspended production and restricted production
Recently, 8 The Central Ecological Environmental Protection Inspection Team carried out inspections in eight provinces (autonomous regions) including Shanxi, Liaoning, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hunan, Guangxi and Yunnan for about one month. Although the document emphasizes that the relevant provinces (regions) are strictly prohibited from taking simple and crude actions such as emergency shutdowns and shutdowns of production in response to inspections, as well as perfunctory response methods such as “shut down all the time” and “stop first and then talk about it”, in fact there are still some areas that adopt more “radical measures” “To stop production and limit production.”
It is reported that the Central Fourth Ecological Environmental Protection Inspection Team entered Jiangxi on April 7 for a period of one month. Local companies said that due to this impact, the scope of rare earth production reduction and suspension companies has expanded again, and has affected raw ore separation plants. Previously, most of them were waste separation plants, and some plants are currently preparing to suspend operations.
In some places, in the name of “emergency response”, work and business suspensions were implemented by region and industry. Some regions have publicly announced in the chemical industry group that some chemical companies and industrial manufacturing companies will suspend production, even for about a month.
A company in Guangxi reported that recently, some companies in the stone calcium carbonate processing industry in Hezhou, Guangxi have adopted power outage measures. The notice provided by netizens mentioned, “According to the requirements of documents such as the “Hezhou City Stone Calcium Carbonate Processing Industry Environmental Comprehensive Improvement “100-Day Attack” Action Home Electricity and Electricity Plan” ([2020]-6) and other documents, please do a good job in safety. Under the premise of protective measures, power outages will be implemented for 8 companies (removal of one phase of high-voltage incoming wires and preservation of domestic electricity). The power outage will begin on April 14, 2021.”
The company also stated that it has received notice and it is expected that more than ten small and medium-sized calcium carbonate companies will be restricted by power outages in the next few days. For the manufacturing industry, a power outage is basically equivalent to “stopping production.” Even if you provide your own generator, it is not a long-term solution. As the “Heavy Calcium Capital” in Guangxi, Hezhou has an annual output of 8.5 million tons of heavy calcium carbonate powder, accounting for 35% of the national output. This move may have a greater impact on the output of the domestic calcium carbonate industry. The shortage of products has increased the anxiety of customers. Currently, product orders are full, and orders from major manufacturers have been queued up until around the end of May.
Whether it is a power outage, power rationing, or production restriction or shutdown, some chemical companies have experienced intermittent shutdowns for rectification or production reductions for a period of time, which will directly affect the supply of domestic chemical products. . This means that the market stock will be further reduced and inventory will continue to be low.
Many products are in short supply, and low inventory drives prices higher
Many chemical workers said that after prices skyrocketed in the first quarter, “out of stock” and “out of stock” have gradually become the main rhythm of the chemical industry. Previously, many chemical workers were hesitant whether to stock up on supplies for emergency preparations or wait and see the situation before taking action. However, the current situation obviously does not give everyone a chance to think. Factors such as shutdowns of major chemical plants at home and abroad for maintenance, environmental inspections and special rectifications in the chemical industry have jointly promoted the reduction of output in the chemical industry and the occurrence of low inventories. The operating rate of some chemical sub-sectors has been less than 60%, and the imbalance between supply and demand is serious, and even faces disruptions. cargo crisis.
Many chemical companies are rushing to put on production lines and increase production, even reaching full production and sales, but it still cannot be effective in the short term. The supply of chemical raw materials such as bisphenol A and resin is in short supply, and it is necessary to queue up or even make a full reservation to place an order. With inventories declining and reluctance to sell goods increasing, companies closing deals and not quoting prices have exacerbated the shortage of supply in the market. Now that chemical giants have “stated their stance” on raising prices, it is expected that more chemical companies will follow the “wind vane” and continue to raise prices in the future. Under the first-level transmission, many industries such as coatings, finished product companies, and even downstream automobile and real estate will be affected and “changes” will occur.
��Companies’ closure of sales and refusal to quote prices has exacerbated the dilemma of market shortage. Now that chemical giants have “stated their stance” on raising prices, it is expected that more chemical companies will follow the “wind vane” and continue to raise prices in the future. Under the first-level transmission, many industries such as coatings, finished product companies, and even downstream automobile and real estate will be affected and “changes” will occur. </p
