some unexpected plant issues occurred and the pandemic re-surged in Zhejiang Province

Since late Nov, adding to the low margins, some unexpected plant issues occurred and the pandemic re-surged in Zhejiang Province, leading to sharp decline in PTA plant operating rate which fell from the high point of 84% to 63% in mid-Dec. Afterwards, with supply and demand improving, PTA margin recovered some losses, with its spread to PX rebounding from 400yuan/mt to the current level of 600yuan/mt. With acetic acid cost included, PX margin has rebounded from 180yuan/mt in mid-Nov to the current level of 390yuan/mt.