According to the Commodity Market Analysis System of Shengyi Society, the overall domestic aggregated MDI market was weak in March, with a unilateral decline. From March 1st to 28th, the domestic market price of aggregated MDI increased from 18500 yuan/ton to 16633 yuan/ton, with a price drop of 10.09% during the month and a price increase of 0.71% year-on-year.

In the first half of the month, following the downward trend in late February, the supply of goods in the market was relatively fast, and the enthusiasm for downstream market entry was not high. The willingness of suppliers to sell goods was strong, and the price of MDI continued to decline.
In mid to late month, the market price of aggregated MDI continued to fall, but there was no improvement in transactions. At the same time, the guidance prices of major factories have been lowered, further suppressing the mentality of industry players. Although some large factories have reduced their losses in the later stage, the price boost is limited. Throughout March, under the game of supply and demand, the MDI market weakened and fell to a low level.
On the supply side, Ningbo Wanhua will take turns to conduct maintenance for one month starting from March 20th. The 70000 ton/year MDI plant of Japan’s Covestro will begin maintenance in early March and is expected to be serviced around January. BASF’s 400000 tons/year MDI plant in the United States will begin maintenance in early March and is expected to be completed around January. Huntsman Netherlands’ 470000 tons/year MDI plant underwent maintenance on March 12th, lasting approximately 40 days.
On the cost side, the raw material pure benzene: In March, the pure benzene market experienced a wide decline due to multiple factors such as international oil prices, external markets, and demand. The average price of pure benzene on March 1st was 7518 yuan/ton, and the average price at the end of the month was 6800 yuan/ton, with a monthly decline of up to 9.56%. Raw material aniline: The domestic aniline market is weak and declining. As of March 28th, the benchmark price of aniline in Shengyi Society was 8362 yuan/ton, a decrease of 8.73% in March.
On the demand side, downstream urgent procurement, entering the market at low prices. In an atmosphere of buying up and not buying down, it is difficult to increase demand.
Future forecast: The current MDI market atmosphere is relatively quiet, with intermediary prices following the market and market news being relatively calm. It is expected that the aggregated MDI market will operate weakly in the short term.