Lead: Driven by negative feedback from end-user demand, domestic phthalic anhydride (PA) prices declined. However, with downstream industries holding low raw material inventories—especially as the price gap between ortho-xylene-based PA and naphthalene-based PA widened—the cost advantage of naphthalene-based PA became prominent. Consequently, after a sharp drop, the naphthalene-based PA market experienced a strong rebound.

Weakening Costs Lead to Price Divergence in Phthalic Anhydride

Specifically, during this period, the market price of ortho-xylene-based PA in Jiangsu declined, fluctuating within a range of 8,650–8,800 RMB/ton; the market price of naphthalene-based PA in Hebei also fell, with prices ranging from 7,500 to 7,800 RMB/ton. Over this cycle, domestic PA market prices decreased, with cost-side factors being the primary driver of the decline. During the week, prices of both raw materials were lowered, weakening cost support. Combined with persistently weak demand, market participants showed clear resistance to PA, putting the market under pressure. Dominated by weak demand, the price trend of domestic ortho-xylene-based PA gradually fell. However, as naphthalene-based PA prices dropped rapidly, the price gap between ortho-xylene-based and naphthalene-based PA widened again. With downstream raw material inventories at low levels and driven by just-in-time restocking needs, oversold inventories in the domestic naphthalene-based PA industry continued, leading to tight spot supply in some regions. This enabled the naphthalene-based PA market to stop its decline and rebound.

Recently, amid the sharp decline in naphthalene-based PA prices, the price gap between ortho-xylene-based and naphthalene-based PA widened again, reaching 1,000 RMB/ton. Affected by this, downstream just-in-time buying was released, further exacerbating the shortage of naphthalene-based PA spot supply. As a result, naphthalene-based PA market prices rebounded, which in turn began to narrow the price gap between the two.