Benzene Market Lackluster on Poor Demand
China’s benzene market was range-bound amid limited ups and downs. SCI predicts that the benzene market will stay weak in August in view of rising supply and demand ratio.
Benzene prices had been falling all along since early July after hitting a year-to-date high of RMB 8,700/mt. By the end of July, benzene prices had fallen below RMB 8,000/mt, and basically hovered around RMB 7,400-7,600/mt in August.
On the supply side, the national oil-based benzene output began to rise in May following an annual low in April, and reached a high of 1,236kt in June. Meanwhile, the monthly output of coal-based benzene also stabilized at around 320-330kt this year attributed by growing profits.
In terms of imports, the monthly imports of benzene in the first half of 2021 averaged 200kt or so. Based on the CFR transaction in the early stage, it is estimated that the import volume will keep high from July to August.
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