The relevant information this week is as follows:
1. Raw material
Crude oil: During this statistical period, the international crude oil price rose again by US$1.8 per barrel, and the average price of Brent crude oil was US$76.59 per barrel. Last week, the cold weather in Europe and the United States and the additional economic stimulus measures proposed by China promoted the rise in oil prices. This week, the trend of oil prices was high-level fluctuations. Even with the good news of oil production cuts in the UAE and Iran, international oil prices opened high and fell on Monday and Wednesday this week. This fully illustrates the traders’ concerns about the downward trend of oil prices.
It is worth noting that on Friday, oil prices were again significantly raised, directly from US$73 per barrel to US$76 per barrel, and this rise was earlier than the release of US non-agricultural data. It can be seen that the winter cold wave in Europe and the United States is expected to further promote the recovery of fuel demand, and the tight energy supply in
Europe also provides certain support to the oil market. On the whole, the crude oil market may continue to rise next week.
2. Production capacity
Among the major production refineries in China, Maoming and Dalian Petrochemical has stopped production, the rest of the refineries are operating normally.
Period | Factory | Status |
20250103—0109 | Daqing Pec | Normal |
20250103—0109 | Daqing Ref & Che | |
20250103—0109 | Dalian Pec | Closed and Relocating |
20250103—0109 | Fushun Pec | Normal |
20250103—0109 | Lanzhou Pec | Normal |
20250103—0109 | Jingmen Pec | Normal |
20250103—0109 | Gaoqiao Pec | Normal |
20250103—0109 | Maoming Pec | Suspended |
20250103—0109 | Jinan Ref & Che | Normal |
20250103—0109 | Nanyang Pec | Normal |
20250103—0109 | Panjing Beiran | Normal |
3. Stock
This week, the paraffin wax market maintained the same state as last week, with end users actively purchasing. Currently, the national inventory is about 8,000 tons.
4. Market demand
Downstream enterprises are actively purchasing goods and preparing for inventory before the Spring Festival. However, due to the unclear price trend, dealers are mainly focused on completing sales tasks.
5. Industry analysis overview
Paraffin wax prices remained stable this week, but after the “slight increase” in paraffin wax prices last Friday, dealers’
predictions on the trend of paraffin wax prices have gradually changed – the possibility of price stability or increase is increasing, especially as Gaoqiao and Jinan have successively planned to suspend production for maintenance in March. However, what is more worthy of attention is the maintenance of several major refineries in Northeast China, because their production accounts for a large proportion of the market.
6. Price expectations
The price of paraffin wax is currently high, while the international oil price is rising rapidly, which has caused more and more traders who were originally bearish on the price of paraffin wax to change their minds. At present, the price of paraffin wax is likely to remain stable until after the Spring Festival in 2025.