Benzene Inventory in East China Ports Increased by 38 Kt To 109 Kt As of October 23, According To Data From CCFGroup

In addition to high imports, domestic supply in China remains elevated. The operating rate of coal-based benzene (benzole hydrogenation process) units reached about 56% on October 18, up about 9% from the end of September.

The fourth quarter will also see more new capacity than downstream derivatives. Yulong Petrochemical started one reformer at the end of September and achieved on-spec benzene in mid-October. Yulong is expected to start its cracker in the second half of November, which will further increase benzene output. The combined capacity of the reformer and cracker is approximately 400 kt/year. Sinopec-Ineos Tianjin Petrochemical planned to start its cracker in October, which has a capacity to produce 1.2 million mt/year of ethylene and 180 kt/year of benzene. However, the status of this project is currently unclear, and further updates are needed. Meanwhile, there will be no significant additions to downstream capacity, except for a 450 kt/year styrene unit from Hongwei Chemical.