II **: Insufficient production requires steady price increase

Business News Agency September 2nd News xylene is one of the most important basic organic chemical raw materials. Recently, as China's economy continues to grow, the demand for xylene in the domestic market is very strong. Although domestic xylene production capacity and production have increased by a large margin, it still cannot meet the market demand and needs to be imported from abroad. It is expected that the market demand for xylene in China will continue to be very strong for some time to come.

Decline in domestic self-sufficiency rate

In 2008, the demand for xylene in the Chinese market was 5.5 million tons, and the demand in 2009 reached 7.5 million tons, which was a significant increase of 2 million tons over the previous year, with a growth rate of 38%. In 2008, domestic xylene production reached 4.52 million tons, and the self-sufficiency rate was 83%. In 2009, the production of xylene in China increased to 5.94 million tons, an increase of 1.42 million tons over the previous year, and the growth rate reached 31.4%. However, due to faster growth in market demand, self-sufficiency rate has dropped by 4 percentage points from the previous year to only 79%.

From the perspective of consumption areas, the main consumption area of ​​xylene in China is the coastal areas in eastern China. The economy in this area is developed, and there are many chemical companies. The demand for xylene is large. According to relevant data, in 2009, the total consumption of xylene in East China reached 3.23 million tons, accounting for 43% of the country's total demand; followed by South China (1.41 million tons, accounting for 19%) and North China (The consumption amount is 1.42 million tons, accounting for 19%).

As China's own production of xylene can not fully meet the market demand, in recent years, a large number of imports from abroad every year. In 2008, China's xylene imports amounted to 930,000 tons. In 2009, imports amounted to 1.61 million tons, an increase of 680,000 tons over the previous year, and the growth rate reached 73%. There are two main reasons that led to a large increase in imports in 2009. First, due to the impact of the international financial crisis, the price of xylene in the international market continued to decline in the first half of 2009, which was lower than the price on the domestic market, making it cheap overseas. Xylene flooded into the domestic market; second, some xylene production facilities built and expanded in China started in 2009. However, most of the devices started production in the second half of the year, and the overall operating rate was not high, resulting in little increase in output. .

From the point of view of the import of xylene, China's neighboring countries and regions are close to each other because of their proximity, convenient transportation, and low freight, which have become the main source of xylene imports. Countries and regions with large import volumes include Korea, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, India, Malaysia, the United States, and the Netherlands.

South Korea is the largest importer of xylene in China. In 2009, China imported 770,000 tons of xylene from South Korea, accounting for 47.8% of total imports. The other countries with large import volume were: Thailand (imported 240,000 tons), Japan (imported 210,000 tons), China Taiwan (imported 55,000 tons), Singapore (imported 48,000 tons), India (imported 46,000 tons) and Malaysia (33,000 tons imported).

Capacity is concentrated in Sinopec and PetroChina

At present, nearly 40 companies in our country produce xylene with a total capacity of 10.3 million tons. Most of these companies belong to the two major groups Sinopec and PetroChina.

According to statistics, there are 26 companies with an annual production capacity of over 100,000 tons, 12 companies with an annual production capacity of over 300,000 tons, and 9 companies with an annual production capacity of over 500,000 tons. The main production companies are: CNOOC. Refining (annual capacity 900,000 tons), Dalian Fujia Dahua (annual capacity 850,000 tons), Yangzi Petrochemical (annual capacity 750,000 tons), Fujian United Petrochemical (annual capacity 740,000 tons), Tianjin Petrochemical (annual capacity 71 Ten thousand tons), Shanghai Petrochemical (an annual production capacity of 690,000 tons), Zhenhai Refinery (an annual production capacity of 680,000 tons), Qingdao Lidong Company (an annual production capacity of 600,000 tons), and Dalian Petrochemical (an annual production capacity of 580,000 tons).

In 2009, there were 18 enterprises with an actual production of xylene of 100,000 tons or more, 11 enterprises with actual production of more than 200,000 tons, and 8 companies with actual production of over 300,000 tons. The enterprises with larger actual production volume are: Zhenhai Refining & Chemical (600,000 tons), Yangzi Petrochemical (59, 000 tons), China National Petroleum Corporation (510000 tons), Qingdao Lidong Corporation (380,000 tons), and Dalian Fujia Dahua. (340,000 tons) and Shanghai Petrochemical (31 million tons).

With the steady rise in crude oil prices

At the end of 2008, affected by the international financial crisis, international crude oil prices fell sharply, making the prices of petrochemical products such as xylene fall. Since 2009, international crude oil prices have escalated, and the prices of petrochemical products such as xylene have also been rising.

At the beginning of 2009, the price of xylene in the Chinese market was 4,800 yuan per ton. The price of the whole year has been showing a trend of upward movement. By the end of 2009, the price has risen to 7,200 yuan per ton. Since 2010, the price fluctuation of crude oil in the international market has not been as large as in 2009, and the price of xylene has also stabilized. The current price is about 6,600 yuan per ton. It is expected that the volatility of crude oil prices in the international market in the future will be unlikely, and the price of xylene will also increase steadily.