[Lead] Recently, the price of domestic methyl methacrylate market has hovered around 7800-8000 RMB / ton, which has dropped to a historical low of ten years. The overall trading market remains weak and the trend remains refreshing. The confidence of downstream end-users in receiving real orders is still poor. Against the background of high inventory, domestic methyl methacrylate holders are becoming more enthusiastic about shipping, and the overall market focus keep moving downstream.
As the current domestic price of methyl methacrylate is the lowest price in the market in the past decade, industry insiders have different views on the domestic market outlook for MMA.
First, the global spread of the emerging coronavirus pneumonia severely affected the production and sales process of the methyl methacrylate terminal industry, the overall operating load rate was sluggish, and the overall domestic methyl methacrylate market demand was weak. Affected by the epidemic, the overall order sales of the global MMA downstream terminal industry are in a downturn. Automotive, real estate and other industries are closely related to MMA. According to Ye Shengji, deputy secretary-general of the China Automobile Industry Association, production and sales in the first quarter will decline by about 45%, and decline by about 25% in the first half of the year. In addition, operation and sales of the coating industry and real estate industry have also been adversely affected by the epidemic. The downturn in the overall production and sales of the downstream terminal industries directly affected the actual orders and sales of methyl methacrylate from the bottom up.
Secondly, new domestic production capacity of MMA will be put into market in mid-late April, by when the MMA supply level will be more abundant. According to market news, Zhejiang Petrochemicals’ 90000t/y plant of MMA will be in operation in mid-late April, which will aggravate the overall supply level of domestic MMA.
Thirdly, the domestic methyl methacrylate market price fell below the cost line, and the market price in April may consolidate. Affected by the epidemic, the overall negative market for methyl methacrylate at home and abroad is pervasive with news of price falling. Due to that, the cost pressure of major domestic MMA manufacturers is increasing. In addition, with the overall control of the epidemic in China, the domestic end-users of methyl methacrylate in the domestic market are expected to maintain a stable purchasing willingness in April. Therefore, the overall domestic market may consolidate at low level.