According to the Commodity Market Analysis System of Business Society, the domestic spandex market remained stable in December. As of December 13th, the price of 40D spandex was 32575 yuan/ton, unchanged from the beginning of the month and down 9.51% year-on-year. The industry’s operating rate remained around 72%.

The domestic pure MDI market is stable, and the mainstream negotiation for domestic spot goods is 20500-20800 yuan/ton by wire transfer for self pickup in barrels. The market negotiation atmosphere is light, traders follow the market, and downstream demand is sluggish. The overall operating rate of the domestic PTMEG industry is around 82%, and the price trend continues to decline, with a molecular weight of 1800 quoted at 18000-18500 yuan/ton.

Entering December, terminal demand has significantly weakened, orders have decreased, and the winter replenishment market is coming to an end. Recently, the shipment speed of autumn and winter fabrics has slowed down compared to the previous period, and downstream factories have relatively poor enthusiasm for stocking raw materials, which has dragged up the price of spandex. The downstream has a bearish attitude and the raw materials have not been digested, so the procurement of spandex is mainly based on rigid demand.

Business Society analysts believe that the cost side is operating weakly, and downstream wait-and-see sentiment has become stronger. Currently, there is little room for improvement in demand for spandex, and there are expectations of further weakness in the future. Under the dual weak pattern of cost and demand, it is expected that there is a possibility of a short-term decline in the price of spandex.

Recently (12.1-12.12), the acrylonitrile market has slightly declined. According to the Commodity Market Analysis System of Shengyishe, as of December 12th, the bulk price of acrylonitrile in the market was 9862 yuan/ton, a decrease of 1.38% from 10000 yuan/ton at the beginning of the month. At present, the mainstream price for self extraction of acrylonitrile from tanks in the market is between 9700 to 9900 yuan/ton. The prices of raw materials have fluctuated slightly, and the support of costs for acrylonitrile has weakened slightly; Minor fluctuations in downstream ABS production; The production of acrylonitrile units has increased, and the supply and demand side has increased compared to the previous period. The acrylonitrile market requires strong support from inquiries, and prices have fluctuated and stabilized at high levels.

Recently (12.1-12.12), the overall construction of domestic acrylonitrile units has increased to around 70%.

Recently (12.1-12.12), the raw material propylene market has experienced a slight decline due to fluctuations, and the cost support for acrylonitrile has weakened. According to the Commodity Market Analysis System of Shengyishe, as of December 12th, the domestic propylene price was 6983 yuan/ton, a decrease of 1.72% from 7105 yuan/ton at the beginning of the month.

It is understood that as of early December, the downstream ABS production has remained around 7.70%, providing strong support for the demand for acrylonitrile; Recently, the demand for acrylic fiber terminals has continued to be sluggish, leading to a weakening of demand for acrylonitrile; The nitrile rubber plant is operating normally, with slight support for the demand for acrylonitrile; Low starting point for polyacrylamide and other materials. Overall, there is still support for the demand for acrylonitrile, but as the supply of acrylonitrile increases, the acrylonitrile market is gradually under pressure.

Market forecast: Business Society’s acrylonitrile analyst believes that the current supply of acrylonitrile has increased compared to the previous period; The demand side is mainly supported by rigid demand, and the price of raw material propylene has slightly decreased. Overall, it is expected that the acrylonitrile market will experience a narrow consolidation at a high level in the short term.

According to the monitoring of the commodity market analysis system of Business Society, the 1 # tin ingot market in East China rose first and then fell this week (12.4-12.11). The average market price at the beginning of last week was 200460 yuan/ton, while the average market price at the beginning of this week was 206560 yuan/ton, with a weekly increase of 3.04%.

K-bar chart of commodity prices, using the concept of price trend K-line, reflects the weekly or monthly price fluctuations in the form of a bar chart. Investors can buy and sell based on the changes in the K-bar chart. Red indicates an increase; Green indicates a decline; The height of the K-bar represents the range of fluctuations. From the monthly K-bar chart, it can be seen that after November 2022, tin prices have been continuously rising for three months due to macroeconomic factors. Since February 2023, prices have fallen by 11.35% in a single month, and the trend of tin prices has fluctuated narrowly in the past three months. From the weekly K-bar chart, it can be seen that the tin ingot market has seen more declines and less gains in recent times.

In terms of the futures market, the overall trend of Shanghai and Wuxi during the week was relatively strong, with LME inventory overall high. Domestic inventory has been affected by downstream stocking and has recently declined overall. At present, the overall operating rate of smelters is relatively stable in terms of supply and demand. With the increase of imported tin ingot sources, the overall supply of domestic tin ingots is relatively sufficient, while the overall supply of overseas tin ingots is surplus, and subsequent imports may continue to increase. As the demand approaches the end of the year, downstream production has slightly declined overall, and there has been little change in terminal consumption recently, but the overall situation remains weak. Overall, the tin ingot market has recently seen loose supply and weak demand. From the perspective of supply and demand, it is expected to remain stable, moderate, and weak in the short term. In the future, it is still necessary to focus on inventory changes and macro factors.

On December 10th, the non-ferrous index was at 1090 points, unchanged from yesterday, a decrease of 29.13% from the highest point in the cycle of 1538 points (2021-10-18), and an increase of 79.57% from the lowest point of 607 points on November 24th, 2015. (Note: The cycle refers to 2011-12-01 present).

According to the price monitoring of Business Society, in the 49th week of 2023 (12.4-12.8), there were a total of 5 commodities in the non-ferrous sector that showed a month on month increase in commodity prices. The top 3 commodities with the highest increase were tin (4.54%), nickel (3.38%), and electrolytic manganese (0.73%). There are a total of 15 products with a month on month decline, and 2 products with a decline of more than 5%, accounting for 8.7% of the monitored products in this sector; The top three products with a decline were neodymium metal (-5.62%), neodymium oxide (-5.61%), and silver (-4.62%). The average increase and decrease this week was -1.32%.

Price trend

In early December, the domestic PA6 market was weak and some spot prices were adjusted. According to data monitoring by Business Society, as of December 8th, the domestic benchmark price of PA6 mixture was 14350 yuan/ton, a decrease of -0.78% from the average price level at the beginning of the month.

Cause analysis

In terms of raw materials:

From the above chart, it can be seen that the market price of caprolactam has recently fallen. In early December, the price of raw material pure benzene was affected by the decline in international crude oil and followed suit, while the cost support for caprolactam weakened. In addition, the maintenance of some production line devices in the industry has returned, leading to an increase in market supply and an increase in inventory levels. Downstream procurement on demand, with average demand side. It is expected that in the short term, the price of caprolactam may weaken and consolidate.

In terms of supply:

In early December, there was a narrow adjustment in the load of PA6 production enterprises, with an average operating rate of around 75% in the interval. The market supply has remained almost unchanged compared to the previous period, and there is ample supply of goods on the market. The inventory level is still not high, and there is no significant increase in supplier pressure, which still provides support for PA6 spot goods.

In terms of demand: Downstream, the load of the weaving and spinning industries has fluctuated slightly and remained stable, with an average load position of around 69% and 81%, respectively. The willingness of terminal enterprises to stock up in mid month is average, and their overall acceptance of high priced goods is not good. Trading is concentrated near maintaining production demand, with replenishment prices mostly centered around the low-end, and overall support for the demand side of PA6 slicing is average.

Future Market Forecast

In early December, the PA6 market experienced a narrow decline. The price of caprolactam has fallen, and the cost support for PA6 has weakened. The load of domestic polymerization plants is almost horizontal, and the inventory position remains low. The demand side is cautious in purchasing goods, and market trading tends towards the low-end. It is expected that future prices may be affected by new production capacity, and the PA6 market may continue to operate weakly in the short term.

According to the Commodity Market Analysis System of Business Society, the formaldehyde market has recently declined. The average price of formaldehyde at the beginning of the week was 1173.33 yuan/ton, and the average price of formaldehyde at the weekend was 1170.00 yuan/ton, a decrease of 0.28%. The current price has dropped by 10.91% compared to last year.

formaldehyde

Recently, the price of formaldehyde in the market has fluctuated and fallen. From the above chart, it can be seen that the formaldehyde market has mainly fluctuated slightly in the past two months, with a slight decline this week. As of December 7th, the mainstream market price is 1100-1220 yuan/ton. This week, the price of raw material methanol fluctuated and stabilized, with average cost support and poor downstream demand. The market trading atmosphere was relatively quiet, and the market trend declined.

Upstream methanol situation: The methanol market has rebounded and fluctuated. In terms of supply, global coal supply is stable, domestic imports have increased, and the increase in domestic demand is not enough to support coal prices to operate at high levels; In terms of demand, the overall pressure on inventory in power plants is relatively low. Currently, the terminal mainly relies on long-term replenishment and replenishes inventory according to demand. The demand for coal in the market is relatively flat, and the overall sentiment is wait-and-see. The domestic methanol market situation is mainly sorted out.

In recent times, the methanol market has been weak and consolidating, with poor cost support and weak transactions in the formaldehyde market. Therefore, formaldehyde analysts from the Chemical Branch of Shengyishe predict that the price of formaldehyde in Shandong will mainly fall below.