China Methanol Price Unveiled Uptrend
China’s methanol market fluctuated upwards in August, overall. Up to August 31, the methanol prices closed at RMB 1,755/mt in Taicang of Jiangsu, up RMB 160/mt or about 10% from the beginning of August. The monthly average price was RMB 1,675/mt, up 3.64% from last month.
The methanol futures prices also moved up, and the dominant contract changed from MA2009 to MA2101 on August 17. In addition, the continuous destocking at ports and the supply-demand changes were also reasons behind the price rise.
On the supply side, China’s methanol supply in August increased notably from July. With the units restarted from maintenance gradually, the monthly average operating rate of the methanol industry rallied to 69.16%, up 9.94% M-O-M. Consequently, the output of China-origin methanol rose by 17.32% to 5,909.3kt. In addition, the import volume in August was estimated at 1,217.7kt, so the total methanol supply was 7,127kt, up 11% M-O-M. The overall methanol supply was abundant in August.
On the demand side, the methanol consumption from the sample downstream industries was 5530kt in August, up 14% M-O-M. Thereinto, the consumption from the olefin industry was about 3840kt, up nearly 20% M-O-M. Meanwhile, the consumption from the traditional downstream industries such as formaldehyde, DME, acetic acid also increased by about 4% to 80kt or so. The rising downstream demand greatly boosted the methanol price.
