Review of the domestic pure benzene market
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On the 11th, in the Asian pure benzene market, offers for Chinese-imported pure benzene were at $480/mt CFR, while buyers were willing to pay between $450 and $460/mt CFR for Chinese-origin pure benzene. As overseas prices have risen recently, domestic petrochemical refineries continue to limit production and sales, while downstream demand has seen a slight recovery. Under this influence, Sinopec’s Shanghai branch raised the price by 150 yuan per ton, to 3,500 yuan per ton. CNPC’s Lanzhou Petrochemical and Dushanbe Petrochemical plants also saw price increases of 100–150 yuan. In the spot market, prices have also risen; currently, the prices abroad are high, resulting in a situation where they are higher than domestic prices. There is active demand from downstream buyers, but the supply is limited, and suppliers are reluctant to sell. Market quotes range from 3600–3700 yuan per ton, while the actual transaction prices lie between 3500–3600 yuan per ton.
What you refer to as ‘benzene’ is actually just petroleum benzene; most of it is coking benzene, which is a by-product of coke production. Our company is engaged in the production of pure benzene on a large scale. Our raw material cost has risen from 1,600 yuan per ton last year to around 2,000 yuan per ton at present, which indicates that China’s economy is recovering as well as the chemical industry. According to my predictions, the price of pure benzene could reach 4,500 yuan per ton by April