From December 30 to January 6, 2022, the bidding price of crude benzene dropped, from 5486 yuan/ton at the end of last week to 5593 yuan/ton at the end of this week, with a weekly increase of 1.95%.

Crude oil: In the early morning of January 4, the minutes of the recent meeting released by the Federal Reserve showed that the Federal Reserve was still committed to fighting inflation and intended to return the inflation rate to the target range of 2%, which indicated that the interest rate might remain high for a period of time until there was clear evidence that the consumer price index was falling. And according to the data of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group (CME Group), the Federal Reserve is expected to approve a 25 basis point interest rate increase at the end of the meeting on February 1. The continued tightening of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy has greatly increased the risk that the United States and major developed economies around the world will fall into recession, which will then depress fuel demand and put pressure on oil prices. International crude oil futures rebounded on January 5. The settlement price of the main contract of US WTI crude oil futures was 73.67 US dollars/barrel, up 0.83 US dollars or 1.2%. The settlement price of the main contract of Brent crude oil futures was 78.69 US dollars/barrel, up 0.85 US dollars or 1.1%.

The ex-factory price of Sinopec pure benzene increased by 150 yuan/ton on January 4, 2023, and the current price is 6650 yuan/ton.

The commodity price K-bar chart uses the concept of price trend K-line to reflect the weekly or monthly price changes in the form of bar chart. Investors can buy and sell investments according to the changes in the K-bar chart. Red indicates: rising; Green means: down; The height of the K column indicates the range of rise and fall. The weekly K-column chart of pure benzene shows that after entering July, the price of pure benzene continued to decline, slightly warmed at the end of August and the beginning of September, and the price mainly declined from October to December.

In terms of the industrial chain, the pure benzene market rose first and then fell this week. After the festival, the crude oil and styrene market strengthened, supporting the market mentality, and adding to the market’s demand for stock before the festival, the pure benzene market rose slightly. Subsequently, Sinopec raised the ex-factory price of pure benzene to 6650 yuan/ton. The crude oil price fell sharply near the end of the week, dragging down the market mentality, and the price of pure benzene fell again. The price of hydrogenated benzene was boosted by the market at the beginning of the week, driving the ex-factory price of enterprises in North China to 7000-7100 yuan/ton, boosting the market mentality.

The crude benzene market was boosted by the rise of pure benzene at the beginning of the week and the rise of hydrogenation benzene price. This week, the bidding price in Shandong increased by 210 yuan/ton to about 5680 yuan/ton. In terms of coking enterprises, the operating rate increased slightly this week, and the crude benzene supply was slightly loose as a whole. In terms of downstream demand, the operating rate of hydrogenation benzene enterprises increased slightly this week, and some units were restarted, and the demand for crude benzene was moderately supported. In the future, the business agency believes that the current fundamental support is weak, the support of crude oil and pure benzene to the industrial chain is unclear, and the downstream demand performance is fair. In a comprehensive view, the pure benzene industry chain is mixed with good and bad, and there is still a certain demand for pre-holiday stock in the downstream near the holiday, which will bring some support to the market. In the short term, the pure benzene industry chain is operating steadily, moderately and strongly. In the future, the focus will be on the trend of crude oil and styrene and the actual demand in the downstream.