Review of China’s pure MDI RMB price trend in 2018

In 2018, the average high price of pure MDI reached about 28,500 yuan/ton, a year-on-year increase of 500 yuan/ton tons, the specific operating range is 21,000-38,000 yuan/ton. The details are shown in the figure below.

2018 pure MDI RMB price chart (yuan/ton)

In January of this year, due to the tight supply of manufacturers and the reduction of imported goods, the price once rose to the highest point of the year, around 36,000-38,000 yuan/ton. Entering February, approaching the Spring Festival, the supply and demand in the market are both weak, and the market remains high and weak. In March after the holiday, the supply of Wanhua and Covestro has increased, and the price has dropped. At the end of March, the price was 28,500-30,000 yuan/ton.

From April to the first ten days of July, the market supply and demand were basically balanced, and the price remained stable. In mid-July, due to the force majeure of Covestro’s equipment and the early maintenance of Tosao Rui’an due to the typhoon, the supply on the site gradually became tight. Under the delay effect, the market price rose slightly at the end of July, but around 29,500-30,000 yuan/ton. However, the rising trend did not last long. At the end of July, Covestro’s equipment returned to normal, and Tosoh Rui’an’s equipment restarted. The tight supply situation in the market gradually eased, and the market price slowly fell in early August. From mid to late August, the second phase of Huntsman began to operate at high load, the overall supply in the market was abundant, and the price entered a rapid decline channel. This decline has not been improved in the traditional “Golden September and Silver October”, and the price once fell to 22,000-23,000 yuan/ton at the end of October.

Beginning in November, the on-site inspection and maintenance capacity is more, and some downstream enterprises have started to replenish goods one after another, and the market price has stabilized. But in December, the downstream replenishment ended, the inspection and maintenance capacity restarted one after another, and the price returned to the downward channel again. By the end of December, the market price of pure MDI fluctuated in the range of 20,800-22,500 yuan/ton.