The domestic capacity of benzene has increased. Driven by centralized procurement in Shandong, prices rose in the first half of the week, and the listed prices of major suppliers followed suit, opening an arbitrage window from East China to Shandong. Starting from Thursday, as centralized procurement by downstream industries ended, port inventories remained in the high range, which suppressed the market’s upside potential. Coupled with downward fluctuations in crude oil prices, market transaction prices declined somewhat.
Based on the operating status of domestic plants, it is expected that market supply capacity will continue to increase. In the short term, pure benzene prices may experience minor corrections. In the medium to long term, demand will support a stronger market trend. Focus should be given to the impact of the situation in the Middle East on crude oil prices, as well as the operating rates of downstream plants.
