Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene Prices Rose Sharply in China

During the initial assessment in April by ChemAnalyst, Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene prices have increased sharply on the back of firm cost pressure from three feedstocks and stable demand fundamentals from the downstream industries. Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene market has witnessed a robust bullish rally in March, and prices continue to move northwards.

As of the 1st week of April, Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene prices in China have been assessed at USD 2395 per MT on FOB basis.

Among feedstocks, the prices of Butadiene have been going through the roof in the domestic Chinese market. As per the latest insights from China market, Butadiene exports have been shunned in order to cater to the domestic demand. Butadiene, which finds its wide use in many polymers and elastomers, has been in rich demand in both rubber and polymer markets. Hence, Butadiene prices have been assessed at USD 1640 per MT on FOB basis at the beginning of April 2022.

Meanwhile, the Styrene market has observed a significant cut in production, adversely impacting supply dynamics as several Styrene plants went on scheduled maintenance to perform optimally throughout the year. Shandong Huaxing, with a production capacity of 80 KTPA, has initiated schedule maintenance on March 15th and will restart in Mid-May 2022. Zhejiang Petrochemical has also stopped in early March and is likely to come online in April, and it has a total production capacity of 600 KTPA. Maoming Petrochemical and Shanghai Secco have started their maintenance in early March and mid-March, respectively, and are expected to come online in and around mid-April to early May. Maoming petrochemical has a production capacity of 100 KTPA, while Shanghai Secco can produce 650,000 tons annually.

Acrylonitrile prices have increased marginally and were assessed at USD 1846 per MT on FOB basis in the domestic Chinese market. Additionally, The Acrylonitrile plant of Phase I of Tianchen Qi Xiang Nylon New Material Project invested and built by China National Chemical Tianchen Company in Zibo, Shandong Province has been successfully started at one time on March 22nd, 2022.

On-demand side, the Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene market has been witnessing stable to firm consumption rates from downstream automotive and construction industries. In China, the construction industry is yet to hit its peak consumption levels.

As per ChemAnalyst, “Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene market is expected to witness a bearish rally in the coming weeks on the back of stability in feedstock prices due to recent decline in the global crude oil prices. Downstream demand levels are expected to remain weak to stable, further encouraging stability in the Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene market regarding pricing sentiment.”