Acrylonitrile Enterprises To Limit Production, Reduce Losses, And Acetonitrile Market

The acetonitrile market in April plunged nearly 9000 yuan / ton, entered a strong rebound in May, until now, the main factory quotes concentrated in 18000-19000 yuan / ton, compared with the end of April rose 2500-3000 yuan / ton. At the same time, it is understood that the spot market price has been more than 20 thousand yuan or more. The direct reason for stimulating prices is that the production of acrylonitrile byproduct factories has greatly reduced, resulting in a sharp decrease in supply. However, the change in the acetonitrile market is rather abrupt. We must trace back to the underlying causes.

After the Spring Festival, the price of acetonitrile market gradually weakened due to the weak domestic demand and the weak demand. Meanwhile, the production of synthetic plants increased because of the high profits, resulting in an aggravated supply and demand weakness in the acetonitrile market. By the end of March, after the main factory slashed by 3000 yuan / ton, acetonitrile officially opened its down mode, and the price of acetonitrile plant decreased to 16500 yuan / ton throughout April. Nevertheless, there are still synthetic devices planned to be put into operation or ready to restart after long periods of parking, so the market participants still saw the price of acetonitrile at that time. However, the output of the by-product factory has not been increased until the production of synthetic method has increased further.

Start up statistics of by-product acetonitrile plant

Source: lung Chung

The demand for acrylonitrile products fell sharply after the Spring Festival, and prices continued to decline. The factory settlement in April was only 6500 yuan / ton, while the price of propylene in raw materials was continuously driven by the downstream PP, resulting in an aggravated loss of acrylonitrile production. In this situation, in May, production enterprises such as Si ban and other manufacturers took measures to limit production, and the rate of industrial start-up dropped to 6 below. The production of acetonitrile by by-product method was estimated to be reduced by about 1500 tons in May.

The reduction of acetonitrile production by by-product is expected by the industry, resulting in an instant shortage of market supply. As a result, the industry generally has a bearish expectation. The middlemen include downstream factories without stock, and even foreign trade companies are waiting for prices to continue to fall before considering the order. As a result, the by-product companies cut their production substantially. At the same time, acetonitrile has few stocks in the society, and it is understood that most of the products currently used in the synthetic process are sold for export and are less sold, resulting in a hard market situation and the price rebounded rapidly.

However, for the rising price of acetonitrile, the industry is generally cautious, saying that the rally will not last for a long time, and that the current high price in the market is mostly speculation. On the one hand, the production of by-products will be restored. Among them, Shanghai SECCO plant is expected to restart next week, Zhejiang Petrochemical has also put into operation expectations; on the other hand, the rebound in acetonitrile price also makes the production profit of synthetic method expand again, so the output of synthetic products will continue to increase. In addition, although demand for domestic and export orders has increased, it is still insufficient compared to the expected increment of synthetic products. The future acetonitrile market is still facing the risk of oversupply. Under this expectation, it is not easy for the acetonitrile price to return to the highest level in the beginning of the year.