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South Asia's constituent countries, such as India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Central Asian countries, saw a decrease in vehicle traffic in the Asia Pacific between 2020-2021. This reduced the region's demand for maleic anhydride. China has a significant market share in the Asia Pacific maleic anhydride market, but it was initially severely impacted by the pandemic.

Millions of people were quarantined, effectively halting all supply chains that rely on China. The travel restrictions and shutdowns imposed in most of China's major cities had whittled down the country's oil production. It has also influenced the workforce community, without which many ports, including Shenzhen and Shanghai, cannot operate. However, the country has shown signs of progress after a three-month lockdown. The majority of businesses have reopened, which is anticipated to grow demand for maleic anhydride.

Check Real-Time Price Now: Maleic Anhydride Price

As of December 31, 2021, the average cost of maleic anhydride remained at RMB 12,166.67/tonne, a 15.12 percent decrease from the previous day's average price of 14,333.33 RMB/ton 1.88 percent month-on-month decrease.

Hence China’s domestic market witnessed a substantial drop in the maleic anhydride market price between December 27-December 31, 2021. The maleic anhydride commodity index was 114.61 on December 31, down 3.14 points from the previous day, down 31.14 percent from the cycle high end of 166.43 points (2021-12-15), and up 123.94 percent from the process low point of 51.18 points on April 14, 2020.
 
The Chinese domestic market of maleic anhydride, produced by hydrogenating benzene, began to stabilise in the last week of December 2021. Recently, the downstream unsaturated resin market's operating rate had decreased, and purchasing sentiment was generally positive.

As of the 31st, the price of solid maleic anhydride in Shandong was approximately RMB 11,000/tonne, the cost of solid maleic anhydride in Jiangsu was about RMB 11,000/tonne, the price of solid maleic anhydride in Shanxi was approximately RMB 11,000/tonne, the price of solid maleic anhydride in Hebei was approximately RMB 11,000/tonne, and the cost of solid maleic anhydride in South China was about RMB 11,000/tonne. This week, the domestic maleic anhydride market price fell sharply, factory shipments were active, rigid demand slowed, transactions were light, and the wait-and-see attitude was strong.

Production Cost Report: Maleic Anhydride Production

There was an increase in the pure benzene market this week. The average price of pure benzene on December 31 was RMB 7,230.00/tonne, compared to RMB 6,830.00/tonne on December 27, representing a 5.86 percent increase. Likewise, this week saw a significant increase in the market price of hydrogenated benzene in North China. It was RMB 6,975.00/tonne on December 31 and RMB 6,512.50/tonne on December 27, representing a 7.10 percent increase. As of December 31, the price of n-butane in Shandong was RMB 5,260.00/tonne.

Overall, this week the domestic maleic anhydride market price fell sharply, factory shipments were active, downstream resin operating rate declined, rigid demand slowed, and a solid wait-and-see sentiment prevailed. Domestic maleic anhydride stopped falling and went into a wait-and-see mode on Friday, trading slowed, and some factory shipments were tight. The maleic anhydride market is anticipated to be primarily strengthened after the holiday.