Introduction: Entering August, PTA equipment maintenance has arrived as scheduled and concentrated. The market supply pressure has eased. PTA spot prices have increased, and the recent trend of volatility has been strong.
From a cost perspective, the international crude oil market has been fluctuating at high levels recently. Although the market is still pessimistic about the global economic slowdown caused by the epidemic, various countries have introduced economic stimulus measures to stabilize the market. Crude oil prices have limited room for fluctuation, which provides solid support to the PTA market. In the short term, PTA prices show a volatile and strong trend.
Data source: Jin Lianchuang
From the supply side, PTA equipment entered a centralized maintenance period in August, and some PTA equipment maintenance plans were fulfilled as promised. This week, Honggang Petrochemical’s 1.5 million-ton PTA unit will be shut down for maintenance from August 10 to 14. At the end of August, Yadong Petrochemical’s 750,000-ton unit is scheduled to be shut down for maintenance for three days. Reignwood Petrochemical’s 1.4 million-ton unit plans to reduce its load to 50% in mid-August. The unit maintenance is still being gradually implemented. With the increase in maintenance equipment, PTA operating rate has been reduced to below 80%, and the supply and demand pattern has improved. It is expected that there will be a slight destocking in the short term, and the PTA market sentiment is warmer.
Data source: Jin Lianchuang
From the demand side, the recent domestic polyester comprehensive Construction starts remained at a high level, and demand performance improved compared with the previous period. In terms of polyester filament, the traditional off-season is about to pass, some autumn and winter fabrics are showing signs of improvement, the market atmosphere is gradually becoming more active, and textile orders are rising month-on-month. At present, the “Golden Nine and Silver Ten” are worth looking forward to. However, as the epidemic abroad continues, export orders are still suppressed, and the domestic sales market is weak year-on-year. There is still a long way to go before terminal demand can truly recover.
Taken together, the equipment maintenance that had been postponed repeatedly in the early stage was finally carried out in August. The periodic supply reduction provided favorable support to the PTA market. Coupled with the gradual improvement of downstream demand, the long-term supply and demand contradiction of PTA ended in late summer. It has eased at the beginning of autumn, and the market may remain volatile and strong in the short term. </p
