This week, the styrene market experienced narrow fluctuations, with an average price of 8970 yuan/ton on August 24th and 9040 yuan/ton on August 28th, representing a 0.78% increase during the period and a year-on-year increase of 19.42%.

Macro: On August 27th, international crude oil futures closed higher. The settlement price of the October WTI crude oil futures contract in the United States was $83.53 per barrel, an increase of $1.30 or 1.6%. The settlement price of Brent crude oil futures in November was $88.52 per barrel, an increase of $1.58 or 1.8%.
On the cost side, the pure benzene market is experiencing strong fluctuations, with some pure benzene plants being delayed in restarting in August. The return of supply is not as expected, and port inventories remain low. Coupled with the end of month delivery gap filling, pure benzene is expected to be strong at the beginning of the week. Downstream product demand remains weak, dragging down the pure benzene market. In the future, the fundamentals of pure benzene will maintain a near strong and far weak pattern, but the short-term low inventory pattern and geopolitical support will strengthen the trend of pure benzene. However, the rebound space is limited under the expectation of supply return. We will pay attention to the downstream acceptance of high prices and geopolitical changes in the future.
Supply and demand side: Partial maintenance of styrene has been postponed for the week, the supply side has tightened, port inventory has fallen, and supply side support is still acceptable. Downstream 3S profits are low, maintaining essential procurement and limited demand side support.
Styrene external market: On August 28th, the closing price of styrene market in Asia increased, with FOB Korea closing price of 1205-1215 US dollars/ton, up 22 US dollars/ton. CFR China closed at $1175-1185 per ton, up $10 per ton.
Market forecast: The fundamentals of the styrene market have improved, and downstream follow-up is average. It is expected that the short-term market driving force for styrene will be limited, and prices will fluctuate.