From January 27 to February 3, 2023, the bidding price of crude benzene rose from 5549 yuan/ton at the end of last week to 5725 yuan/ton at the end of this week, with a weekly increase of 3.17%.

International crude oil futures continued to fall on February 2. The settlement price of the main contract of US WTI crude oil futures was US $75.88/barrel, down US $0.53 or 0.7%. The settlement price of the main contract of Brent crude oil futures was 82.17 US dollars/barrel, down 0.67 US dollars or 0.8%. The continued strength of the US dollar depressed the crude oil valuation. In addition, the oil price continued to be under pressure due to the weak economic data.

Crude oil prices rose first and then fell, and China’s demand outlook was affected by generally optimistic expectations. At the end of 2022, since China relaxed the epidemic restrictions, the economic growth prospects have been gradually strengthened, driving the recovery of oil demand. At the same time, the performance of the supply side has stabilized, OPEC has steadily implemented the production reduction, and Russia’s oil exports have gradually stabilized. Under the background of the continuous improvement of demand in the oil market, the international oil price rose. In the later period, the inflation level of western economies remained high, and the tightening of monetary policy may be maintained for a long time. The Federal Reserve began a two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, and the expectation of interest rate increase brought pressure to the risk asset side. The final result of monetary policy will be released on Wednesday (local time), and the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by 25 basis points. In addition, the European Central Bank will also announce an interest rate increase when it meets on Thursday. Under the macro negative pressure, the trend of crude oil prices fell.

The ex-factory price of Sinopec pure benzene increased by 100 yuan/ton on January 13, 2023, and the current price is 6950 yuan/ton.

Other enterprises: Jingbo Petrochemical quoted 7100 yuan/ton, HSBC Petrochemical quoted 7150 yuan/ton, Weilian Chemical quoted 6953 yuan/ton, Xinhai Petrochemical quoted 7050 yuan/ton, and Hongrun Petrochemical quoted 7150 yuan/ton.

The commodity price K-bar chart uses the concept of price trend K-line to reflect the weekly or monthly price changes in the form of bar chart. Investors can buy and sell investments according to the changes in the K-bar chart. Red indicates: rising; Green means: down; The height of the K column indicates the range of rise and fall. The weekly K-column chart of pure benzene shows that after entering July, the price of pure benzene continued to decline, slightly warmed at the end of August and the beginning of September, and the price mainly declined from October to December, and warmed in January.

Industrial chain: the pure benzene market rose first and then fell this week. At the beginning of the week, supported by the external market and crude oil prices, the price of pure benzene was the main factor. Sinopec raised the ex-factory price of pure benzene. The market offer was positive, the transaction was fair, and the market price was up. At the weekend, the trend of crude oil and styrene was low, affecting the market mentality, and the market trading was slightly cold. Hydrogenated benzene market was the main market this week, with the price of 7200 yuan/ton in Hebei, the main production area.

The crude benzol market was the dominant market this week, with the mainstream price in Shandong Province ranging from 5830 to 5835 yuan/ton, up 130 yuan/ton. In terms of supply, the coking enterprises started this week basically the same as before the festival, and the overall start was fair, and the crude benzene supply was sufficient. In terms of demand, the recent downstream construction is OK. Some enterprises have a certain procurement plan after the festival, and the demand for crude benzene is still there. This week, the auction price of each production area has increased slightly since Tuesday, boosted by the rise of the industrial chain in the first half of the week. Overall, crude benzene demand support still exists, but the recent decline of crude oil has dragged down the market mentality, and the price of hydrogenation benzene has declined, with both negative and positive results. It is expected that crude benzene price will be mainly adjusted in a narrow range. The future market will focus on the impact of the trend of basic products such as crude oil and styrene on the market mentality.