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Styrene supply remains ample despite massive turnarounds

2023-03-10 08:03:27 CCFGroup

Styrene spot and futures were weak after the Chinese New Year holidays as market sentiment was weighed down by rising port inventory and upcoming unit startups.

In fundamentals, the market could find supports from resumption in end-user market, but the market was still weighed by full storage tanks.

Company	Capacity,kt/yr	Turnaround/startup
Liaoning Bora	350	has t/a plan in Apr
Tangshan Risun	300	mid-Feb, 40 days
Lihuayi Group	720	cracker t/a for 10 days, SM offtake reduced
Sinopec Qilu Petrochemical	200	Mar 10-Apr 1
Yuhuang Chemical	500	#1 closed; #2 resumed normal
Sinopec-SK Petrochemical	27	Apr 1, 1 month
SP Chemicals	320	Nov 21, 2022, 6 months
Sinopec ZRCC	35	Feb 20, 3 months
ZRCC Lyondell	620	Feb 24-May 7
Ningbo Keyuan Plastics	250	2 lines, both shut
Zhejiang Petroleum&Chemical	1,200	Feb 5, 50 days
Satellite Lianyungang Petrochemical	600	full capacity since Jan
PetroChina Guangdong Petrochemical	800	to start on Feb 18
Zibo Junchen	500	to start in late Mar

From February to April, China domestic styrene producers shut down units for maintenance. Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical underwent its first major turnaround since the startup, and production losses would be severe. However, new integrated plants and trial production by other petrochemical companies would compensate for the losses. Lianyungang Petrochemical continued to operate at full capacity, and Guangdong Petrochemical was expected to start its unit on Feb 18.

China domestic output will keep increasing in February-April despite massive turnaround. Total styrene inventory is likely to increase in February and will decrease in March considering demand recovery.

Styrene cash flow weakened in February and the price was recently around the breakeven level. If the tanks reach full, then the cash flow may turn negative.

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