Asian bisphenol A market faces challenges

Source: China National Chemical News January 31, 2019

According to recent news from An Xunsi, the Asian bisphenol A (BPA) market is facing challenges, because whether there will be a surplus in market supply in 2019 depends largely on China's demand.

Due to the decrease in downstream demand (especially polycarbonate and epoxy resin applications), the spot price of BPA in the Chinese market fell sharply in the fourth quarter of 2018. Coupled with the U.S.-China trade war leading to a sluggish import, the renminbi continued to weaken against the dollar, exacerbating the bear market atmosphere in the Asian BPA market.

According to data from An Xunsi, on December 21, 2018, the spot price of Asian BPA fell to 1,250 US dollars per ton (CFR, China), a significant decrease of 23% from the same period of the previous year, the lowest since October 2017. The price of BPA in China's domestic market fell sharply for most of the fourth quarter of 2018. On December 21, it fell to 10,700 yuan/ton, down 20% from the same period last year.

At the same time, the price gap between BPA and raw material phenol in the Chinese market has also narrowed significantly from US$557/ton in the beginning of the third quarter of 2018 to around US$160/ton in the end of the fourth quarter. In the case of rising raw material costs, some BPA manufacturers are forced to reduce the operating rate of the device to cope with the dilemma of falling profits. On the other hand, the recent expansion of polycarbonate production capacity in China may change the rules of the game and stimulate the increase in BPA demand.

A source in the Northeast Asian market said that due to the Chinese New Year holiday, Asian BPA market demand will remain sluggish in February. Given the US-China trade war situation and crude oil price trends, BPA spot prices are not expected to rebound significantly, at least not at the beginning of this year.

In addition, the weakening Chinese economy has led to an unclear demand outlook. Against the backdrop of fluctuations in upstream related markets and the energy industry, the entire Asian BPA market participants are paying close attention to the price of benzene in the Chinese market. The price difference between the two products BPA and benzene is usually used to measure the strength of the BPA market. As of December 21, 2018, the price difference between the two has dropped to about 707.50 US dollars / ton, lower than the same period in 2017 The level of USD 783.50/ton.