This week's hot topics:

This week's market prices have fallen

2) This week's industry output decreased

3) The inventory of the petrochemical plant increased this week

2. This week's ABS market trend:This period (20250313-0320) saw a decline in market prices across the board, with very weak market transactions. On Monday, petrochemical plants uniformly lowered their factory quotations, leading to a drop in market prices. The price decrease for this week was in the range of 100-200 yuan/ton. Recently, the output of the ABS industry has increased, and the situation of oversupply continues, causing market prices to weaken continuously. The market is filled with negative factors, and traders are selling at lower profits, resulting in an overall bearish sentiment.

3. This week's raw material market trend

3.1 Styrene:this week, domesticWeak and narrow range fluctuation. High-end spot transactions in Jiangsu were at 8200 yuan/ton; low-end transactions were at 8070 yuan/ton; the price difference between high and low ends was 130 yuan/ton. During the week, crude oil showed a weak consolidation, with no impact on styrene for now. Pure benzene remains in a weak state, with the cost end continuously weakening, dragging down the price of styrene. From the perspective of supply and demand, styrene production has been slightly decreasing, while demand remains strong, leading to a gradually tighter balance. Port inventory has also been slightly decreasing, but the spot trading atmosphere is light, unable to support prices.

3.2 Butadiene:In this period, the domestic butadiene market experienced minor fluctuations. Although there was news of temporary shutdowns at facilities in northern Jiangsu, which led to a short-term increase in regional supplier prices, the downstream synthetic rubber market remained volatile, and butadiene inventories stayed at high levels, making it difficult for the market's supply and demand fundamentals to sustain positive momentum. During the week, relatively high transaction prices for April pre-sales from suppliers in northern Jiangsu also affected market volatility. However, downstream buyers continued with just-in-time purchasing, and some high-priced offers saw poor sales, suppressing expectations for a stronger butadiene market. Overall, the market trend maintained a slightly fluctuating pattern. As of March 20th, the delivered price in the central Shandong region was between 11,200-11,300 yuan/ton, while the ex-tank self-pickup price in East China was between 11,000-11,100 yuan/ton.

3.3 Acrylonitrile:During this period (20250314-0320), the market price of acrylonitrile fell. As of the close on March 20th, the ex-tank price at East China ports was 8600-8700 yuan/ton, and the delivered price in the Shandong market was 8600-8700 yuan/ton, a decrease of 100 yuan/ton from the high end of the previous week. This week, the decline in the spot market price of domestic acrylonitrile further narrowed, with an overall performance showing bottoming out and consolidation. The overall inventory of manufacturers is controllable, and due to cost pressures, the reduction in prices has also narrowed. As the direction of settlement expectations for this month gradually becomes clearer, intermediaries are also holding firm on prices, leading to fewer low-price negotiations in the market. In addition, the overall demand from downstream sectors is performing well, with buyers following up with phased restocking. However, the contradiction between supply and demand has not yet been resolved. Even though existing facilities have reduced production, new capacities are about to come online, thus market confidence remains insufficient, and overall operations are cautious.

4. Market forecast:It is expected that the ABS market price trend will be weak next week. Some manufacturers will start up their facilities, which is expected to result in a slight increase in production. However, terminal demand continues to be weak, and the situation of oversupply will persist, leading to a bearish price outlook.