China’s PC Market Changed Greatly in the Short Run

SCI99

2020-04-22

China’s PC Market Changed Greatly in the Short Run

Supply: There will be an increase for the PC capacity.

In 2020, Wanhua Chemical, Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical, Luxi Chemical, Cangzhou Dahua New Material and Hainan Huasheng new material plan to newly add PC capacity in H2, 2020. At present, influenced by the public health event, as of April, there was no newly added capacity.

As for the output, China’s PC units were shut down for maintenance intensively in February and March, and the operating rate of PC units decreased to the historical lows. In February, the operating rate of PC units was less than 50%. As the producers resumed working in March, the PC industry operating rate increased limitedly. It is estimated that the PC output will be 207kt from January to March, down 11% Y-O-Y.

In Q2, 2020, China’s PC units will be shut down intensively, further limiting the release of PC output in China. As for the scheduled maintenance in Q2, most units will be shut down in May, with the involved capacity at 750kt/a, taking up 45% of the total capacity.

As for the import, the total import volume of PC was 235.2kt in January and February, down 1.1% Y-O-Y. The total import volume from South Korea, Taiwan Province and Thailand accounted for 54% of the total import volume. The import volume from Saudi Arabia reached 20kt. The export volume of PC was 33.4kt in January and February 2020, down 5.6% Y-O-Y.

Demand: The global demand was sluggish.

PC with its excellent performance is widely used in many fields such as electronic appliances, automobiles, sheets, packaging materials, medical, etc.

In February, China’s PC producers actively met the demand for goggles and donated around the country, but the proportion of PC in medical industry was low. Besides, the PC products are only used in first-line health facility level, but there will be an increase in this industry. As for other downstream industries, the demand was sluggish from January to March. As the global public health event upgrades, the demand from overseas is weakening.