Pure Benzene List Prices Continue to Rise, Offering Strong Cost Support for Caprolactam (2026-09-07)

1. Today's Summary

• Sinopec raised pure benzene prices at its refineries in East, South, and Central China by RMB 150/mt to RMB 9,050/mt, effective September 7.
• Sinopec's caprolactam weekly settlement price for the first week of September is RMB 13,960/mt (six-month acceptance payment, interest-free).

2. Spot Market Overview

Table 1. Domestic Caprolactam Price Table (Unit: RMB/mt)

Data source: Chempricehub Information

Today, the spot market price of caprolactam in East China was RMB 13,650/mt on acceptance-delivered basis, up RMB 125/mt from the previous working day, an increase of 0.92%. The upstream pure benzene market continued its strong performance, with Sinopec's listed pure benzene price raised to RMB 9,050/mt. Caprolactam costs continued to climb, providing ongoing support to prices. At the beginning of the week, caprolactam producers remained largely in a wait-and-see mode and gave no clear price guidance.

3. Production Update

Today, the caprolactam capacity utilization rate is 68.37%, based on a caprolactam nameplate capacity of 8.24 million mt. Profitability: today, caprolactam production gross margin is -RMB 1,325/mt, and the caprolactam unit gross margin is RMB 168/mt.

4. Price Forecast

Upstream pure benzene prices continue to rise, strengthening support on the cost side. In addition, the supply pattern in the caprolactam market remains tight this week. Therefore, caprolactam producers are expected to continue raising prices in tandem.

5. Related Product Conditions

Pure benzene: Today, the pure benzene market price in East China continued its strong trend, with a narrowed increase. Mainstream negotiations were at RMB 8,950–9,090/mt, broadly in line with the morning forecast. Pure benzene prices remain strongly correlated with crude oil. As long as crude oil does not show a notable correction, downstream loading at ports is active and port inventories are trending downward. Spot circulation resources have further tightened, and holders show an evident inclination to hold firm and resist selling, which supports pure benzene remaining at high-level consolidation.

PA6 chips: The polymerization cost side trended strongly, underpinning existing chip prices. However, end-user demand was weak, and polymer plants were cautious in chip procurement. Intraday market activity was dominated by traders. Today, regular-spinning ordinary PA6 was quoted at RMB 13,950–14,000/mt cash with short delivery, while high-speed spinning spot was RMB 14,100/mt, acceptance-delivered.

6. Data Calendar

Table 4. Domestic Caprolactam Data Overview (Unit: 10,000 mt)

Data source: Chempricehub Information
Notes: 1. ↓ and ↑ indicate significant fluctuations, highlighting data items with a change exceeding 3%.
2. ↗ and ↘ indicate narrow fluctuations, highlighting data items with a change within 0–3%.