According to the Commodity Market Analysis System of Business Society, from July 28 to August 4, 2022, the ex factory price of hydrogenated benzene in North China increased significantly, from 6400 yuan/ton last week to 6933.33 yuan/ton this week, an increase of 8.33%.

In terms of crude oil, overnight crude oil futures jumped sharply on Thursday. The settlement price of the main contract for WTI crude oil futures in the United States was $81.55 per barrel, an increase of $2.06 or 2.6%. The settlement price of the main contract for Brent crude oil futures was $85.14 per barrel, an increase of $1.94 or 2.3%. On August 4th, the domestic SC crude oil market rose with the main contract settling at 622.1 yuan/barrel, a decrease of 1.55%. There are reports that Saudi Arabia and Russia will extend their independent production reduction period until September, or even longer, as supply tightening is expected to intensify.

The factory price of Sinopec pure benzene has increased by a total of 400 yuan/ton during this cycle, with a current implementation of 7600 yuan/ton.

Other companies: Jingbo Petrochemical quoted 7750 yuan/ton, HSBC Petrochemical quoted 7600 yuan/ton, Weilian Chemical quoted 7733 yuan/ton, Xinhai Petrochemical quoted 7750 yuan/ton, and Hongrun Petrochemical quoted 7600 yuan/ton.

This week, the price of pure benzene has slightly increased. As of July 31st, the price of pure benzene was 7287 yuan/ton. On Friday (August 4th), the price of pure benzene was 7670 yuan/ton, an increase of 6.08% compared to last week and a decrease of 9.94 compared to the same period last year.

The K-bar chart of commodity prices uses the concept of a price trend K-line to reflect weekly or monthly price fluctuations in the form of a bar chart. Investors can buy and sell investments based on the changes in the K-bar chart. Red indicates an increase; Green indicates a decline; The height of the K-bar represents the range of fluctuations. The weekly K-bar chart of pure benzene shows that the pure benzene market has seen a positive trend in recent times. After ten consecutive weeks of decline, it has continued to rise for five consecutive weeks.

From the perspective of the industrial chain, the trend of crude oil this week has been volatile, with pure benzene continuing to rise in the external market. Pure benzene in East China continues to rise, and the overall market supply is currently tight. Sinopec has raised the factory price of pure benzene twice in a row, with a cumulative increase of 400 yuan/ton. Supported by multiple positive factors, the price of pure benzene continues to rise, and the price of hydrogenated benzene has also risen within the week, with an increase of 350 to 400 yuan/ton.

Driven by the pure benzene market, the hydrogenation benzene market continued to rise this week. Currently, the factory price in Hebei has risen to 7650-7850 yuan/ton, and the market price in East China has risen to 7850-7900 yuan. On the supply side, with the increase in market prices, the operating rate of hydrogenation benzene enterprises has increased this week, and currently, on-site supply is still acceptable. There has been little change in demand. In terms of raw materials, the auction price of crude benzene has risen again this week, and the profitability of hydrogenation benzene enterprises remains poor, resulting in significant cost pressure for enterprises. In the future, there has been no significant change in supply and demand, and the trend of hydrogenated benzene will still follow the fluctuations of the pure benzene market. There is some resistance in the downstream of the high price of pure benzene, but the overall supply of pure benzene is tight, which has a certain boost to the market. It is expected that the market for pure benzene and hydrogenated benzene will experience high volatility in the short term.