According to data from Business News Agency, as of October 30th, the average quoted price of maleic anhydride was 7470.00 yuan/ton (including tax), a decrease of 12.94% from 8579.80 yuan/ton on October 1st.

On October 30th, the maleic anhydride commodity index was 70.37, unchanged from yesterday, a decrease of 57.72% from the cycle’s highest point of 166.43 points (2021-12-15), and a 37.50% increase from the lowest point of 51.18 points on April 14, 2020. (Note: The cycle refers to the period from September 1st, 2011 to the present)

Crude oil fluctuations have limited support for the domestic maleic anhydride market

The crude oil market continued to fluctuate in October. At the beginning of the month, the situation on the mainland is volatile, and oil prices may intensify volatility, with an increase in amplitude. The mid-term supply-demand game will continue, with tight supply and slowing demand remaining the main themes of oil price trading. The weekly inventory report released by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) in mid month showed that US crude oil inventories unexpectedly dropped significantly last week, with a more than expected decrease. Coupled with tensions in the Middle East, this has brought a bullish trend to the crude oil market, with prices hitting nearly two week highs. With the strengthening of diplomatic efforts and the easing of tensions between Palestine and Israel, the market has shown some optimism about supply restrictions, and the oil market has come under pressure and declined. Overall, crude oil prices are still at a high level.

The decline in the market for n-butane and hydrogenated benzene is bearish for the domestic maleic anhydride market

On the upstream side, the overall hydrogenation benzene market declined in October. The factory price of hydrogenated benzene in North China was 8133.33 yuan/ton at the beginning of the month, and 7866.67 yuan/ton at the end of the month, a monthly decrease of 3.28%. The spot market for pure benzene has continuously decreased, while hydrogenation benzene has followed suit, with a cumulative decrease of about 350-400 yuan/ton. Although crude oil has risen in the future and the ethylene market has performed well, due to weak downstream demand, there is significant upward resistance in the pure benzene market, with the market maintaining a mainly fluctuating trend, while the trend of hydrogenated benzene closely follows that of pure benzene. Affected by international crude oil fluctuations, the market for n-butane fluctuated and declined in October. As of October 30th, the price in Shandong was around 5200-5300 yuan/ton.

The downward trend of unsaturated resin market has limited support for the domestic maleic anhydride market

In October, the main raw material of the downstream unsaturated resin market for maleic anhydride, styrene, was overall declining. The maleic anhydride market continued to decline, and resin cost support was limited. In addition, the current resin supply side is weak, with poor trading, and the unsaturated resin market continues to decline.

Business Society maleic anhydride product analysts believe that currently, the raw material of maleic anhydride, n-butane, is generally declining, and hydrogenation benzene is mainly stable, with limited cost support for maleic anhydride; Downstream unsaturated resin market is weak, operation is cautious. The fundamentals are weak, and the factory price of maleic anhydride continues to decline. Downstream wait-and-see sentiment is strong, and dealers continue to fall. It is expected that the maleic anhydride market may continue to decline in the short term.