As of October this year, nearly two-thirds have passed in 2018, and this year's ABS market is far less than last year, cost pressures have increased, and manufacturers' profits have shrunk.
According to statistics, from January 2018 to the end of July 2018, ABS's cost profit is around 1300-14000 yuan / ton, while the market price is maintained at 14500-16000 yuan / ton, In the first half of the year, ABS still has a profit of around 2,000 yuan / ton.
However, from the end of July, ABS costs began to rise, mainly due to the rising prices of upstream raw materials such as styrene, butadiene and acrylonitrile. The cost of ABS in the second half of the year was floating at 15,500 yuan/ton, and the price of manufacturers at this time was 15000-15500 yuan / ton, The apparent profit of the manufacturer is basically at a loss of about 100-500 yuan / ton. (The data in this article is based on the apparent profit, the actual profit may be based on the order time of the factory raw materials, the price difference).
Figure 1 ABS domestic profit chart
Due to the long-term shrinkage of profits, cost pressures have led to some materials exporting companies began to reduce the load, starting in mid-October, Zhenjiang Chimei, LG Yuxing and other joint ventures have different levels of maintenance, plus Shandong Haili The installation of 200,000 tons/year has intensified the market supply and competitiveness.
In the second half of this year, we heard the most words about ABS: This year's demand is not good, is it really impossible to demand in 2018?
Figure 2 ABS apparent consumption statistics for 2017-2018
On the one hand, the demand in 2018 has not decreased, but the domestic supply has increased, and imports and manufacturers have started to work. Imported materials have intensified domestic competition, and the increase in supply price is naturally difficult to rise. On the other hand, the upstream raw material styrene, The simultaneous increase of butadiene and acrylonitrile is a positive factor, but it is the most unfavorable factor in the case of an increase in supply. The overall cost of the manufacturer has increased substantially, but the price has not risen, and finally it has been completed in 2017. The opposite market.