1、 Price trend

According to the commodity market analysis system of the business community, the average price of the domestic caprolactam market was 12100 yuan/ton on April 1, and 12683 yuan/ton on April 28. The price of the domestic caprolactam market rose 4.82% this month.

2、 Market analysis

The domestic caprolactam market price rose first and then fell this month. In the first ten days of April, the price of caprolactam market rose with the increase of raw material pure benzene price, which strengthened the cost support. The downstream PA6 market is improving, and procurement demand is increasing. The market supply of caprolactam is reduced due to the maintenance of some enterprises. In late April, the price of raw material pure benzene decreased, and cost support weakened. The supply of caprolactam in the spot market gradually recovered, and the downstream demand was general. Caprolactam trend began to be weak. As of April 28, the settlement price of Sinopec caprolactam in April was 13350 yuan/ton, and the quality liquid products were accepted and collected within 6 months.

The market price of raw material pure benzene rose first and then fell this month. Crude oil fell broadly, with a bearish cost side. The Asian American arbitrage window has closed, and the domestic price of pure benzene in China is at a high level, resulting in a high import volume of pure benzene in April. And the overall supply of pure benzene in the market is sufficient. Downstream profitability is poor, styrene continues to decline, and market interest in purchasing pure benzene is average, dragging down pure benzene on the demand side. On April 28th, the average price of pure benzene was 7425 yuan/ton, an increase of 2.73% this month. This month, Sinopec’s pure benzene price increased by a total of 150 yuan/ton to 7450 yuan/ton.

After the downstream domestic PA6 market rose this month, it was sorted and put into operation. The load of domestic polymerization plants is stable, and the supply remains sufficient. In terms of demand, it is acceptable, but the stock is biased towards low-priced sources. As of April 28th, the average factory price of PA6 in China was 13975 yuan/ton, an increase of 1.08% compared to the beginning of the month.

3、 Future Market Forecast

The caprolactam analysts of the business community believe that the price of raw material pure benzene has been lowered recently, and the cost support is insufficient. Coupled with an increase in market supply, downstream market demand is underperforming. It is expected that caprolactam prices will weaken and decline in the short term.