How will ACN market go with the start-up of new unit?

According to relative sources, Shandong Lihuayi's 260kta ACN unit will start up soon, and its 400kta ABS unit has not put into operation, if its ACN unit runs at a high operating rate and the product enters into the market, the North China market will face pressure.

In terms of the region, PetroChina Fushun has restarted its 92kta ACN unit on Dec 12, and if Lihuayi starts up its new unit, the supply in Shandong market will increase obviously, and the discussing pressure will depress the market prices. Viewed from the port, though Shanghai Secco and Jiangsu Sailboat has restarted, their supply is hard to fill the market in short. Some market players reflect that the shipments will arrive at ports after Dec 15. Therefore, in short, some buyers may purchase from Shandong market.

For the late market, with the restart of Jiangsu Sailboat and PetroChina Fushun and start-up of Lihuayi and the shutdown of Zhejiang PC’s 260kta unit, the products in Shandong are likely to be sold to the ports. On concern about the freight, the price spread of ACN in Shandong and Zhejiang may enlarge, and later, prices may stabilize with the balanceo f supply.

For demand, plant operating rate of ABS and AM is flat, while that of acrylic fiber lowers to below 40% affected by unfavorable buying sentiment and the shutdown affected by epidemic, weighing on the ACN sales. As ACN prices have not weakened, acrylic fiber prices are hard to decline, but downstream spinners show weaker buying intention on acrylic fiber, so before ACN prices fall down, acrylic fiber plant operating rate is hard to recover.

From the prospective of supply and demand, without the improvement on demand, the major influencing factor on ACN price is the supply side, but with the shutdown and the start-up of units, the actual prices are not likely to change much.