Market Trends for Naphthalene-Based Phthalic Anhydride Show Divergence

1. Today's Summary

① A rebound in commodity futures prices boosted market sentiment, leading to improved transaction volumes in the naphthalene-based phthalic anhydride (PA) market.

② Today, the domestic capacity utilization rate for phthalic anhydride rose to 60%.

2. Spot Market Overview

Table 1: Domestic Phthalic Anhydride Price Summary (Unit: CNY/ton)

Using the Jiangsu region as a benchmark, today’s closing price for ortho-xylene based PA was 9,850 CNY/ton, a decrease of 50 CNY/ton from the previous trading day, consistent with morning expectations. Domestic PA market trends were divergent today; the ortho-xylene based market saw sluggish downward movement, while the naphthalene based market benefited from rigid demand buying, resulting in improved transactions.

3. Production Dynamics

Today, the domestic PA capacity utilization rate reached 60%, with plant operations remaining stable. Regarding profitability, feedstock ortho-xylene prices remained steady, while East China ortho-xylene based PA market prices declined, resulting in a theoretical industry profit of 510 CNY/ton for the ortho-xylene process. Hebei naphthalene based PA prices fell, but industrial naphthalene feedstock prices remained stable, yielding a theoretical industry profit of 810 CNY/ton for the naphthalene process.

4. Price Forecast

Currently, driven by rigid demand transactions, inventory levels in the domestic naphthalene based PA industry have been successfully cleared. The willingness of producers to maintain prices has strengthened, providing some support to the market. However, due to expected increases in capacity utilization for the ortho-xylene based PA industry, combined with the significant price gap between ortho-xylene and naphthalene based sources, there remains a downside expectation for the ortho-xylene based PA market, while naphthalene based PA prices are trending toward stability.

5. Related Products

Ortho-xylene Market: Prices in the East China region remained stable at approximately 9,400 CNY/ton for ex-works delivery. The market is under strong control, with major petrochemical plants maintaining stable prices, leading to overall market stabilization.

DOP Market: Today, DOP sellers offered slight discounts as key traders actively pushed shipments. With the weekend approaching, some short-covering transactions occurred, while end-users maintained rigid demand purchases. Overall market transaction activity showed slight improvement.

6. Data Calendar

Table 2: Domestic Phthalic Anhydride Data Overview (Unit: 10,000 tons)