Recently, the price of ** in east China was at around 5500 yuan (ton price, the same below). The overall trading atmosphere was sluggish, and purchases were limited. However, the steady state trend was not maintained, and the market followed a slight decline. As Taiwan Polyphenol (Ningbo) Co., Ltd. and Sisal Chemicals (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. continue to increase the device load rate, supply will increase further, and import sources will continue to enter. It is expected that prices will face downward pressure. With the increase in supply and no improvement in demand, the market will not be able to make major changes in the long term.

Affected by the sharp drop in crude oil prices, since the beginning of October last year, the ** market has fallen continuously, falling below a five-year low. In 2015, the market experienced a narrow range of turbulence and the market was tepid. Although crude oil prices have rebounded by about 40% since mid-March, the impact on the market was negligible. The price of imported ** was equally placid. From the end of March, the US dollar fluctuates from 690 to 710 (CFR, China). During this period, the raw materials of propylene and ** rose by 4.3% and 17.3%, respectively.

Market analysts analyzed that the main reason for the above-mentioned situation was that several sets of phenol/** new devices had been put into operation since the beginning of this year. The supply growth exceeded demand, and the strong raw materials could not support the market.

At the beginning of May, Tsinghua commenced commercial operation of 180,000 tons/year of new equipment in Ningbo; the operating rate of the equipment has reached approximately 80%; and the operating capacity of the new Shanghai plant (150,000 tons/year**) of CISA Chemicals commenced production in March. It has been 60% to 70%; Sinopec Mitsui Chemicals' 150,000 tonne/year plant in Shanghai has been put into operation in December 2014. The three new installations will increase the total domestic production capacity by 43% to 1.6 million tons/year within six months. The market supply has increased significantly and the price competition among manufacturers has become increasingly fierce.

Market analysts pointed out that in the future, even if the market is driven by the upper reaches of passive growth, the margin will be limited by the existing high inventory of traders and a large number of monthly imports. In the first quarter of this year, China imported a total of 106,700 tons, a decrease of 5.2% over the same period of last year. Compared with the surge in production capacity, the decline was not significant.

At present, China’s economic growth continues to slow down, and the demand for chemical products is also declining, including **. For example, in the area of ​​water reducer, due to the deceleration of China's real estate market, the industry’s demand for ** is worse than expected.