The terminal demand is weak, and the epoxy chloropropane market continues to decline. According to the monitoring and analysis system of Shengyi Society, as of March 14th, the benchmark price of Shengyi Society’s epichlorohydrin was 9200 yuan/ton, a decrease of -1.87% compared to the beginning of this month.

Price influencing factors:

On the raw material side, the market price of propylene raw material has fallen, and the glycerol market is mainly weakly consolidating. However, overall, the cost aspect is still under high pressure. Insufficient support on the raw material side, weak mentality of manufacturers, and weak downward trend in the market price of epichlorohydrin. According to the market analysis system of Shengyi Society, as of March 13th, the benchmark price of propylene in Shengyi Society was 6935.75 yuan/ton, an increase of 1.80% compared to the beginning of this month (6813.25 yuan/ton).

Supply side: The epoxy chloropropane product plant of Xinyue Group has been restored, with a steady increase in supply and normal market transactions.

Downstream demand side: The domestic epoxy resin market has a production capacity utilization rate of about 50%. Downstream terminal demand is weak, maintaining on-demand procurement and replenishing urgently needed goods, with low intention to purchase epichlorohydrin. The focus is on wait-and-see, with a cold trading atmosphere for actual orders, and the epoxy chloropropane market is under pressure.

Market forecast: Analysts from Shengyi Society believe that the current cost support is insufficient, downstream terminal demand is weak, and the trading atmosphere for actual orders is cold. The market is more cautious and focused on restocking for urgent needs. It is expected that the market for epichlorohydrin will continue to operate weakly in the short term, and more attention still needs to be paid to market news guidance.

This week (March 10-14, 2025), the market volatility of the main raw material dissolving slurry is not significant, and the cost support is limited; Downstream demand is limited, and the enthusiasm for raw material procurement is not high. Multi dimensional follow-up is necessary to meet the demand, and the recovery of terminal market demand is not as expected. The adhesive short fiber market is consolidating horizontally, and prices remain stable.

According to the Commodity Market Analysis System of Shengyi Society, as of March 14th, the average market price of viscose staple fiber is 13600 yuan/ton, which is the same as last week’s price.

The main raw material dissolution slurry remains stable

This week (March 10-14, 2025), the main raw material dissolving slurry market remained stable. As of March 14, the price of domestic dissolving slurry was around 7600 yuan/ton, the price of outer broad-leaved slurry was around 930 US dollars/ton, and the price of coniferous slurry was around 1030 US dollars/ton. The auxiliary liquid alkali market and sulfuric acid market continue to maintain stable prices, while the cost support for adhesive short fibers remains weak and stable.

Good supply and demand are hard to find

This week (March 10-14, 2025), the on-site supply gradually increased, and downstream yarns remained in high demand, resulting in poor shipments and low enthusiasm for picking up adhesive short fibers. The overall inventory level of the adhesive short fiber market increased narrowly, and the positive support from the supply side was limited.

The downstream cotton yarn market prices have not changed much. As of now, the price of ring spun human cotton yarn 30S in Jiangsu region is around 17550 yuan/ton. However, due to insufficient orders in the terminal market, the shipment situation of yarn factories is not ideal, and there is still a certain amount of raw material inventory and finished product inventory, resulting in a weak willingness to purchase adhesive short fibers, and it is difficult to find favorable support from the demand side.

Future forecast

From a cost perspective, the main material dissolution slurry market is dominated by consolidation; From the perspective of supply and demand, there may be a slight increase in on-site supply, while industry inventory may remain at normal levels. Downstream markets or consumption of raw material inventory are the main focus, and there has been no significant improvement on the demand side. Overall, the market lacks positive news to boost it. Business analysts predict that there will be little price change in the domestic adhesive short fiber market in the short term, with prices expected to be accepted at 13600-13700 yuan/ton.

This week, the demand for acrylic acid in major downstream industries such as coatings, adhesives, textile auxiliaries, etc. has not shown significant improvement. Affected by the global economic slowdown and weak demand in the terminal market, these industries have maintained low procurement volumes for acrylic acid, resulting in sustained pressure on the demand side of the acrylic acid market. As of March 11th, the benchmark price of acrylic acid in Shengyi Society was 7650.00 yuan/ton, a decrease of -0.65% compared to the beginning of this month (7700.00 yuan/ton).

The weak demand for acrylic acid in overseas markets, coupled with increased trade barriers and logistics costs, poses significant challenges to China’s acrylic acid exports. The export volume of acrylic acid continues to decline, further exacerbating the oversupply in the domestic market.

In recent years, the acrylic acid industry has experienced rapid capacity expansion, leading to a significant increase in market supply. Although some manufacturers have chosen to lower their operating rates due to profit pressure, overall production capacity is still surplus, and market supply pressure remains significant.

Due to sluggish demand and oversupply, inventory in the acrylic acid market continues to rise. Market inventory remains at a high level, putting significant pressure on market prices.

This week, the prices of major raw materials such as propylene for acrylic acid have risen, leading to an increase in the production cost of acrylic acid. However, due to weak market demand, the price of acrylic acid did not rise as a result, but continued to decline due to oversupply. As of March 11th, the benchmark price of propylene in Shengyi Society was 6920.75 yuan/ton, an increase of 1.58% compared to the beginning of this month (6813.25 yuan/ton).

The fluctuation of energy prices also has a certain impact on the production cost of acrylic acid. The international oil prices and other energy prices fluctuate greatly, but overall they are on a downward trend, which puts certain pressure on the price of acrylic acid in the market.

Due to factors such as sustained weak demand, oversupply, and weakened cost support, the acrylic acid market sentiment this week is generally pessimistic. Market participants hold a cautious attitude towards the future market, with most choosing to wait and see or purchase on demand, leading to a continued decline in market prices.

Looking ahead, the acrylic acid market will still face significant challenges. On the one hand, the recovery of the demand side still takes time, and the uncertainty of the global economic situation and terminal market demand will continue to affect the trend of the acrylic acid market; On the other hand, pressure on the supply side will continue to exist, with capacity expansion and high inventory levels continuing to exert pressure on market prices. Therefore, it is expected that the acrylic acid market will continue its downward trend in the short term, but the long-term trend still needs to pay attention to the global economic situation, downstream demand changes, and supply side adjustments.

In summary, the acrylic acid market continued its downward trend this week, mainly influenced by factors such as sustained weak demand, significant supply pressure, weakened cost support, and pessimistic market sentiment. The future market trend still needs to pay attention to changes in various factors.

Due to weakened costs and insufficient demand, the domestic PTA market has maintained a fluctuating downward trend since March. According to the Commodity Market Analysis System of Shengyi Society, as of March 10th, the average price of PTA market in East China was 4850 yuan/ton, a decrease of 2.34% from the beginning of the month and a year-on-year decrease of 16.92%.

Looking at the future market, on the supply side, PTA spot processing fees continued to weaken by the end of 2024, and remained at a low level around 300 yuan/ton at the beginning of this year. The profit gap of the enterprise has led to an increase in maintenance enthusiasm. There were many PTA plant maintenance in March, and as of March 10th, the industry’s operating rate was at a one-year low of 77%. According to statistics, the domestic PTA production capacity for maintenance and planned maintenance in March was 10.15 million tons.

The escalation of trade frictions has led to a larger than expected increase in US crude oil inventories. Investors are concerned that OPEC+will decide to increase production starting in April, causing international crude oil prices to remain weak. As of March 7th, the settlement price of the main contract for US WTI crude oil futures was $67.04 per barrel, and the settlement price of the main contract for Brent crude oil futures was $70.36 per barrel. Attention should be paid to the destocking of US crude oil and the disturbance of the situation in the Middle East.

In terms of demand, downstream polyester plants will restart, resulting in a narrow increase in operating load, which will increase the demand for PTA. At the same time, the new polyester production capacity put into operation in the early stage will realize the output, and the demand for PTA will also increase. Most textile terminal production enterprises have expressed that the issuance of new orders is still slow and lack confidence in the future market. The space for further increase in weaving end elasticity and weaving start-up rate is limited. Currently, the weaving start-up rate in Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions is around 67%, and insufficient orders may lead to a subsequent decline in start-up rate.

Business analysts believe that the current PTA maintenance efforts are significant and coupled with the expectation of a rebound in demand for “gold, silver, and four”, it is expected that PTA destocking in March and April may boost market confidence. But we still need to pay attention to changes in crude oil and demand.

This week (March 3-7, 2025), the market trend for the main raw material of viscose staple fiber, dissolved pulp, was weak, and the recovery of demand in the terminal market was not as expected. Downstream yarn factories mainly executed previous orders, and new prices for viscose staple fiber manufacturers were introduced. The actual focus of negotiations in the market did not fluctuate much, and the viscose staple fiber market operated weakly, with prices slightly lowered.

According to the Commodity Market Analysis System of Shengyi Society, as of March 7th, the average market price of viscose staple fiber was 13600 yuan/ton, a decrease of 120 yuan/ton from last week, with a weekly decline of 0.87%.

The trend of the main raw material dissolution slurry market is downward

This week (March 3-7, 2025), the upstream main raw material dissolution pulp market experienced a weak decline. As of March 7, the price of domestically produced dissolution pulp was around 7600 yuan/ton, the price of external broad-leaved pulp was around 930 US dollars/ton, and the price of coniferous pulp was around 1030 US dollars/ton. The prices of auxiliary materials in the market are all on the rise, with an average price of 1071.61 yuan/ton for 32% liquid caustic soda in the domestic market, an increase of 1.05% compared to the beginning of the month. Overall, the trend of the upstream main raw material dissolution slurry market is downward, while the auxiliary material liquid alkali market and sulfuric acid market continue to rise in price. The price center of the raw material market is declining, and the cost support of adhesive short fibers is weak.

Good supply and demand are hard to find

This week (March 3-7, 2025), some adhesive short fiber parking and maintenance facilities in Jiangsu have not yet restarted, while some adhesive short fiber facilities in Shandong and Xinjiang have increased their operating loads, resulting in a gradual increase in on-site supply; Downstream yarn manufacturers resumed work relatively late, coupled with poor shipments, resulting in low enthusiasm for picking up adhesive short fibers. The overall inventory level of the adhesive short fiber market has increased narrowly, and the support from the supply side is limited.

The downstream cotton yarn market equipment has basically resumed normal operation, with little price change. As of now, the price of ring spun human cotton yarn 30S in Jiangsu region is around 17500 yuan/ton. However, due to insufficient orders in the terminal market, the shipment situation of yarn factories is not ideal, and there is still a certain amount of raw material inventory and finished product inventory, resulting in a weak willingness to purchase adhesive short fibers, and it is difficult to find favorable support from the demand side.

Future forecast

From a cost perspective, the main material dissolution slurry market is dominated by consolidation; From the perspective of supply and demand, there are plans to increase the operating rate of some adhesive short fiber facilities in Jiangsu Province. The on-site supply may increase slightly, and the industry inventory may remain at a normal level. The downstream market or consumption of raw material inventory is the main focus, and there has been no significant improvement on the demand side. Overall, the market lacks good news to boost it. Business analysts predict that the domestic adhesive short fiber market price will not change much in the short term, and the price is expected to be accepted at 13600-13700 yuan/ton.