Morning Market Insights: Xylene

I. Key Focus Points

1. Crude Oil: On October 13, intensifying conflicts between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia heightened supply risks, while the market assessed expectations of increased Russian supply, resulting in mixed movements for international crude oil prices. The NYMEX WTI November contract closed at $94.14/bbl, up $0.40/bbl (+0.43%); the ICE Brent December contract closed at $105.69/bbl, down $0.96/bbl (-0.90%). The INE Shanghai Crude Oil December 2026 (SC2612) contract rose by 22.5 yuan to 732 yuan/bbl, with night session gains pushing it to 740.6 yuan/bbl.
2. Xylene: Sinopec East China posted a listed price of 9,150 yuan/ton for xylene.
3. Gasoline: Yesterday, the production-to-sales ratio for Shandong independent refineries’ gasoline was 82%, an increase of 3 percentage points from the previous period.

Core Logic: Crude oil futures saw slight pullbacks. Yesterday, Shandong independent refineries did not balance production and sales; factory auctions saw small premiums, improving on-floor purchasing sentiment. The Asian USD-denominated market rose yesterday, while xylene prices showed mixed trends.

II. Price Table

III. Market Outlook

Crude oil futures ended with mixed results, offering limited support to market sentiment. Yesterday, both the gasoline market and Shandong xylene market failed to balance production and sales. Downstream customers replenished stocks based on demand. The spread between MX (mixed xylenes) and PX (paraxylene) remained stable, and spot resources were relatively tight. We expect domestic xylene prices to remain largely stable today with minor fluctuations.