Styrene Market Morning Briefing (20260908)

I. Key Focus Points

1. September 7: The US-Iran conflict remains unresolved, and Saudi oil facilities came under attack, sustaining supply risks and pushing international oil prices higher. NYMEX crude oil futures were closed for one day without a settlement price due to the US Labor Day holiday. ICE Brent crude futures for the November contract rose by $0.72 to $97 per barrel, up 0.75% from the previous close. China's INE crude oil futures for the 2610 contract rose by 5.4 yuan to 688.5 yuan per barrel, and gained another 11.9 yuan to 700.4 yuan per barrel in night trading.

2. On September 7, the Asian dollar-denominated market saw moderate trading sentiment. Higher RMB prices led the intraday Asian market to fluctuate slightly upward. FOB Korea closed at $1,315–$1,325, with the average up $5; CFR China closed at $1,285–$1,295, with the average up $5. Unit: USD/ton.

3. On September 7, versus the previous trading day on a theoretical basis: the theoretical production-sales profit of integrated unit enterprises fell by 52 yuan to 1,859 yuan/ton; the theoretical production-sales loss of non-integrated unit enterprises narrowed by 47 yuan/ton to -389 yuan/ton.

Core Logic: The recent market tug-of-war centers on high costs, low inventories, and cautious downstream chase-for-gains sentiment. The styrene market may oscillate at high levels in the short term, with a wide monthly spread; however, given expectations of supply recovery in September, the monthly spread could narrow.

II. Price List

Notes:

1. Brent crude oil: USD/barrel; CFR Northeast Asia ethylene: USD/ton; benzene and styrene: yuan/ton.
2. Benzene and styrene prices are average closing prices in mainstream markets.
3. RMB prices in the table above are spot-exchange, tax-included prices.
4. The change rate is the period-on-period change rate.

III. Market Outlook

Styrene: The recent market tug-of-war centers on high production costs, low inventory levels, and cautious downstream buying. The US-Iran conflict remains unresolved, Saudi oil facilities were attacked, and supply risks persist, keeping international oil prices elevated. With Anqing Petrochemical under maintenance and the Jingbo unit restarting, industry supply is expected to recover marginally. The price spread between styrene and downstream products has narrowed quickly, and demand-side production cuts are possible due to negative feedback. However, until absolute inventories effectively accumulate, the tight spot supply pattern is unlikely to fundamentally reverse. In the short term, the styrene market is likely to fluctuate at high levels, with a wide monthly spread. Under the influence of September supply recovery expectations, the possibility of monthly spread contraction cannot be ruled out.

IV. Data Table

Notes:

1. All data in the table are weekly styrene data; ↘/↗ indicate the expected trend.
2. Styrene Jiangsu port inventory data is released before 15:00 on Monday of the current week.
3. Styrene East China port inventory data is released before 17:00 on Monday of the current week.
4. Styrene operating rate data is released before 18:00 on Thursday of the current week.
5. Styrene sample enterprise inventory data is released before 17:00 on Thursday of the current week.