Introduction
Under the dual influence of policy effects and market competition pressures, domestic benzene maleic anhydride production capacity is facing a new round of delisting risks.
Chemical industry remediation upgrade
On March 21, 2019, Tianjiayi Chemical Co., Ltd. in the ecological chemical park of Xiangshui County, Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province, experienced a major explosion, causing serious casualties and property losses, and prompting Jiangsu, a major chemical province, to increase its Remediation efforts.
Adjustment of capacity structure in the region is coming
Jiangsu Province is a major domestic maleic anhydride production and consumption province, occupying an important position in the market structure. According to statistics, as of 2019, the total production capacity of maleic anhydride in Jiangsu reached 461,000 tons, ranking first in China; the downstream unsaturated resin production capacity was 1.78 million tons, and domestic production accounted for nearly 40%, also ranking first in China.
However, in the structure of maleic anhydride capacity in Jiangsu Province, the traditional benzene method capacity accounted for more than 73%, and there is only one n-butane method manufacturer. Under the continuous loss and environmental pressure in recent years, most benzene maleic anhydride capacity The plant has been shut down and has been idle for a long time. At present, the capacity of maleic anhydride still in normal operation is 215,000 tons, of which the capacity of benzene method is only about 95,000 tons.
It’s believed that if the rectification operation is successfully completed as scheduled, the remaining 110,000 tons of benzalhydride production capacity in Jiangsu Province will be completely withdrawn from the market. It is not yet known whether there is an off-site reconstruction plan.
At the same time, because the production capacity of benzene maleic anhydride in Shandong, Zhejiang and other places has long been suspended for a long time, the withdrawal of the remaining benzene maleic anhydride production capacity in Jiangsu Province also marked the “zeroing” of the production of benzene maleic anhydride in East China.
Benzene production capacity may gradually withdraw from the market
Except for East China, the domestic production capacity of Benzalic anhydride is still about 140,000 tons, mainly distributed in Shanxi, Hebei, Yunnan and other places. As the capacity of East China’s benzene process is about to be delisted, the market environment faced by the remaining benzene maleic anhydride enterprises is also not optimistic. Apart from the perennial environmental pressure, the continued deterioration of the market competition situation in the future is the most deadly threat.
In 2020, China will usher in a new round of production of n-butane maleic anhydride, and it is expected that the new production capacity will reach 270,000 tons during the year. The supply of incremental n-butane maleic anhydride will continue to squeeze the survival space of benzene maleic anhydride.
It is believed that in the face of strong competition from n-butane maleic anhydride, innate shortages in raw material costs and production processes make benzene maleic anhydride almost impossible to resist, and the domestic market has been shrinking year by year. Looking at the market outlook, as the new project of the n-butane method continues to be put into production, the gradual delisting of benzene maleic anhydride production capacity in the next few years will be a high probability event.