According to the commodity market analysis system of Business Society, the hydrogenated benzene market fluctuated and rose in May 2024. The ex factory price of hydrogenated benzene in North China was 8666.67 yuan/ton at the beginning of the month and 9066.67 yuan/ton at the end of the month, with a monthly increase of 4.62%.

Crude oil prices: Business Society crude oil analysts believe that the future crude oil supply and demand game will continue. On the supply side, the OPEC ministerial meeting will be held on June 1st, at which time the organization will discuss production reduction policies. Currently, the policy tends to continue the previous production reduction scale. In addition, countries such as Iraq and Kazakhstan have submitted compensatory production reduction plans for exceeding quotas, and Russia’s technical excess has also promised compensatory production reduction. There will not be too much change on the supply side in the future. From the demand side, future demand may have two sides. On the one hand, gasoline demand in the United States is expected to increase as the summer driving season begins. At the same time, China is currently implementing intensive economic stimulus measures, and there is also some potential for future demand. On the other hand, in the medium to long term, oil demand is still constrained by the high interest rate environment in the United States, and there is a certain degree of uncertainty on the demand side. Overall, the short-term decline in crude oil prices is a squeezing effect of amplified bearish sentiment on both supply and demand sides. However, the future supply and demand fundamentals do not support the maintenance of low oil prices. It is expected that there is still room for upward movement after the adjustment of oil prices. On May 28th, international crude oil futures rose. The settlement price of the main WTI crude oil futures contract in the United States was $79.83 per barrel, an increase of $2.11 or 2.7% from last Friday. The settlement price of the Brent crude oil futures main contract was $83.94 per barrel, up $1.06 or 1.3%.

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. The weekly K-bar chart of pure benzene shows that the pure benzene market has seen more ups and downs in recent times.

In May 2024, Sinopec’s listed price for pure benzene increased by a total of 200 yuan/ton, with a current implementation of 9000 yuan/ton.

Other companies: Jingbo Petrochemical quoted 9000 yuan/ton, HSBC Petrochemical quoted 8800 yuan/ton, Weilian Chemical quoted 9003 yuan/ton, Xinhai Petrochemical quoted 9000 yuan/ton, and Hongrun Petrochemical quoted 8800 yuan/ton.

In terms of the industrial chain, the overall pure benzene market has steadily increased this month, with market prices steadily rising. The overall increase in the first half of the month was limited, but by the end of the month, the supply of pure benzene in East China was tight, driving up the sentiment in the spot market. Sinopec raised its listing price to 9000 yuan/ton at the end of the month, once again boosting market sentiment. The mainstream ex factory price of hydrogenated benzene has also risen to 9000-9100 yuan/ton, and manufacturers have a strong attitude towards price support. The overall market atmosphere is strong.

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. After entering 23 years, the hydrogenated benzene market has seen more ups and downs. In May, the market continued to decline for two consecutive months, while in July and August, it continued to rise for two consecutive months. The weekly K-bar chart shows that the hydrogenated benzene market has seen more gains than losses in recent times.

In terms of supply, in the first half of May, the production of hydrogenated benzene enterprises was relatively low, and the supply was slightly tight. Later, as market prices continued to rise, some maintenance companies resumed work. In the latter half of the year, the operating rate of hydrogenated benzene enterprises rebounded, and the supply of hydrogenated benzene remained stable. In terms of demand, downstream demand has performed well recently, driving the heating up of the pure benzene industry chain. Overall, boosted by the overall rise of the industrial chain, the hydrogenated benzene market has maintained a stable, medium to strong trend in recent times.