From July 29 to August 5, 2022, the bidding price of crude benzene in the week decreased slightly, from 7487 yuan / ton at the end of last week to 7323 yuan / ton at the end of this week, down 2.19% this week.

On August 4, international crude oil futures fell continuously to the lowest point since February. The settlement price of the main contract of WTI crude oil futures in the United States was US $88.54/barrel, down US $2.34 or 2.12%; The settlement price of the main contract of Brent crude oil futures was US $94.12/barrel, down US $2.66 or 2.75%. The main reason is that at the macro level, the Bank of England announced an interest rate increase of 50 basis points on Thursday to curb the economic recession that may be triggered by inflation, which continued to be negative for oil prices. This was compounded by the sharp increase in US commercial crude oil inventories last week and the increase in production targets of Oil Producing Countries OPEC.

The recent negative market demand side has played a major role. At the beginning of this month, the economic data of many countries showed that the PMI data of major global economies in July was weak, which intensified the market’s concern about economic recession. On August 1, the WTI fell by more than 4%. On Thursday, the Bank of England raised interest rates by 50 basis points, the largest increase since 1995. The world’s major central banks have frequently raised interest rates to curb inflation, and the expectation of economic recession is rampant. This is also the most important factor that puts pressure on the commodity market. Oil prices are facing unprecedented pressure. In the future, the crude oil analysts of the business association believe that the supply and demand fundamentals are intertwined. On the one hand, the supply tension has not changed, which still supports the oil price. But in the medium term, the upward inflation and economic downturn may gradually bring pressure on demand. Stagflation and recession may be bad for the stock market and commodity market, and the oil price will also be under pressure. Considering comprehensively, in the short term, the oil price will be under pressure. In the medium term, it is difficult to ease the shortage of natural gas and other energy. Especially in the fourth quarter, the demand for energy in winter is increased, and the oil price still has upward momentum, but there is little possibility of breaking the previous high.

Summary of price adjustment of Sinopec pure benzene (unit: yuan / ton)

Date, adjusted price, adjusted amount

July 29, 8850, – 300

August 2, 8650, – 200

August 4, 8450, – 200

This week, Sinopec’s pure benzene was reduced three times, with a total reduction of 700 yuan / ton. As of August 5, the listed price of Sinopec’s pure benzene was reduced by 150 yuan / ton and 8450 yuan / ton.

The K-bar chart of commodity price reflects the weekly or monthly price changes in the form of a bar chart by using the idea of the K-line of price trend. Investors can buy and sell according to the changes of the K-bar chart. Red indicates rising; Green means: falling; The height of K column indicates the range of rise and fall. The weekly K-bar chart of pure benzene shows that the price of pure benzene has dropped continuously since July.

Due to the large number of units put into production downstream of pure benzene in the early stage, the demand for pure benzene is increased, the overall supply of pure benzene is tight, the domestic trade cargo is reduced, and the high-level import of superimposed outer disk is reduced, and the East China port is kept in a state of de stocking as a whole. However, due to the continuous broad decline of crude oil and the significant drop of external pure benzene, the support of external news for pure benzene is weak, and the recent reduction of the downstream load and the increase of shutdown maintenance, the demand for pure benzene is slowing down, and the demand follow-up is poor. The pure benzene market is under pressure this week. Sinopec has lowered the ex factory price of pure benzene for three consecutive times, which once again affected the market mentality. The price of hydrogenated benzene enterprises dropped significantly this week.

The crude benzene market decreased slightly this week. The mainstream price in Shandong was 7320-7325 yuan / ton, down 205 yuan / ton compared with last week. The operating rate of coking enterprises this week is still low. However, with the improvement of the state of mind of coking enterprises, some enterprises have planned to gradually liberalize the production limit. However, the crude benzene supply this week has not changed much from that of last week and is still on the low side as a whole. The overall weakness of the industrial chain has led to the decline in the bidding price of crude benzene this week. If the supply of crude benzene returns to normal in the later period, there is still room for downward adjustment.