Propelled by firm feedstock prices, the China PS market reached its annual high in Q2. Especially in May, the price amplitude of styrene hit 6.29%, and the cost support benefited the PS price appreciation.
2022-2024 China Styrene Prices
Source: OilChem
2022-2024 PS Prices in East China
Source: OilChem
PS Industry China Product Prices Changes in May (Unit: Yuan/t)
|
Product |
Market |
May 2024 |
Apr 2024 |
May 2023 |
MoM |
YoY |
|
Styrene |
Jiangsu |
9,543 |
9,625 |
7,997 |
-0.85% |
+19.33% |
|
GPPS |
Yuyao |
9,886 |
9,969 |
8,460 |
-0.83% |
+16.86% |
|
HIPS |
Yuyao |
10,873 |
10,886 |
9,274 |
-0.12% |
+17.24% |
Source: OilChem
However, the price amplitudes of GPPS and HIPS were only 3.61% and 3.74% respectively in May, mainly because the supply rise of PS restricted its price increase.
China PS Output and Operating Rate
Source: OilChem
China's PS output reached 388,000 tonnes in May, up 17.15% month on month and 5.84% year on year, and the accumulated output over January-May totaled 1,697,400 tonnes in 2024, up 2.90% year on year. The production rise was mainly due to the improvement of PS production profit and the production resumption of the refining-chemical integration unit in Lianyungang Petrochemical.
Despite the cost support, the PS price is estimated to inch down in June due to the imbalance between supply and demand, but its price will still stay at a relatively high level. Domestic PS supply will keep high, but downstream demand is projected to edge down. In detail, refrigerator and air conditioner production might slightly decrease due to high inventory and large cost pressure, and real estate and XPS industries both remain sluggish.
Written by Ariel Guo, gq@oilchem.net
Edited by Navy Liu, liuchuanjun@mysteel.com
