Weak trading activity in the market, with inventory holders leading sell-offs (2026-09-15)

1. Today's Summary

① 9/14: Saudi crude oil pipeline transport was disrupted, and continued pressure from the Houthis intensified supply risks, driving international oil prices higher. NYMEX WTI crude futures for October settled at $101.39/barrel, up $1.34 (+1.34%); ICE Brent crude futures for November closed at $105.68/barrel, up $1.07 (+1.02%). China INE crude oil futures contract SC2611 rose by CNY 19.8 to CNY 776.5/barrel, with the night session gaining CNY 45 to reach CNY 821.5/barrel.

② 9/15: Domestic liquid chlorine prices fell today to CNY 250/ton.

2. Spot Market Overview

Table 1: Summary of Domestic Dichloromethane Prices (Unit: CNY/ton)

Taking the Shandong region as a benchmark, dichloromethane in Shandong closed today at CNY 2340/ton (range: CNY 2330-2350/ton), weakening slightly compared to the previous working day. The domestic dichloromethane market remained soft and trending downward today. Current prices are at relatively high levels, but demand follow-through from downstream users and traders is insufficient. Trading activity within the market is limited, with holders leading sales through competitive bidding, causing the market center to shift lower.

3. Production Dynamics

The capacity utilization rate for methane chlorides stood at 70.84%, a decrease from the previous working day. Regarding cost and profit, upstream raw material liquid chlorine prices fell today while methanol prices remained stable, leading to a theoretical decrease in production costs for methane chlorides. Calculated based on externally purchased liquid chlorine, the daily profit margin for methane chlorides was -CNY 422/ton.

4. Price Forecast

Although methane chloride producers currently face significant cost pressure and have little willingness to adjust prices, downstream buyers tend to "buy when prices rise but not when they fall," maintaining a wait-and-see attitude. Demand-side momentum remains weak. With the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays approaching, some enterprises intend to maintain low inventory levels during the break. Therefore, it is expected that the domestic dichloromethane market still has some room for decline. Attention should be paid to subsequent changes in market news and fundamentals.

5. Related Product Status

Refrigerant Market: Taking the East China bulk water market as a benchmark, mainstream fluororefrigerant R32 factories are maintaining high prices and controlling output to protect values. As of press time, quotes from major manufacturers in East China reference CNY 65,500/ton (coordinated domestic and export quotes). Mainstream market quotes in East China reference CNY 63,500-64,500/ton, consistent with morning expectations. Market intelligence indicates that inquiries for bulk refrigerants in channel markets remain passively low long-term. Fixed supply guarantees are provided to main compressor manufacturers, while shipment frequency for small packaging is slow. Consequently, source factories are strictly controlling increases in spot inventory. Statistics show that industry-wide operating loads for fluororefrigerant R32 remain near 40-50%. Recently, factory scheduling and consumption forces have contracted further. Under the high-level sideways trend of R32, channel holders are seeking opportunities to ship goods and reduce inventory, showing little intention to purchase high-cost inventory, and are waiting for clear pricing signals from major manufacturers. Chempricehub expects that fluororefrigerant R32 will primarily focus on volume control and price protection in the short term, with commercial negotiations and contract pricing continuing, while monitoring industry unit dynamics and production scheduling rhythms.

6. Data Calendar

Table 2: Domestic Methane Chloride Data List (Unit: 10,000 tons)