Acetic anhydride market rises sharply
As of August 25th, the price of acetic anhydride was 5395.00 yuan/ton, an increase of 182.50 yuan/ton or 3.50% compared to the price of 5212.50 yuan/ton on August 17th. Recently, the price of acetic anhydride has increased significantly, causing some manufacturers on the supply side to delay resuming production. The market supply is tight, and enterprise quotations are running steadily; Downstream market entry requires on-demand purchasing, and the trading atmosphere on site is still acceptable; The raw material side acetic acid continues to rise, with strong cost support and increased cost pressure on manufacturers, driving the upward trend of acetic anhydride prices.
Acetic acid market is rising strongly
From August 17th to 25th, the price of acetic acid was raised from 3076.67 yuan/ton to 3220.00 yuan/ton, an increase of 4.66%. The price of raw material methanol has risen, with favorable cost support. In some areas, acetic acid inventory is not high, and the mentality of industry players is strong. The focus of acetic acid negotiations continues to shift upwards, and the acetic anhydride market is rising in line with cost driven trends
Outlook for the future market
Analysts believe that the price of raw material acetic acid remains strong, and there is significant cost pressure on acetic anhydride enterprises. Manufacturers intend to push up prices, while downstream production remains stable. The supply of acetic anhydride is relatively tight, and there are many favorable market factors. It is expected that the acetic anhydride market will continue to operate strongly in the later stage, and specific attention will be paid to changes in the upstream market.

In early August, formaldehyde fluctuated and weakened. In mid August, the rebound of raw material methanol raised costs, and mainstream factories in Shandong raised their factory prices multiple times. The market experienced a corrective rise, and in late August, the market turned into a strong consolidation pattern with more volatility, slowing down the upward trend and widening the range. As of August 25th, the average price of formaldehyde in Shandong Province was reported at 1367 yuan/ton, an increase of 11.29% from August 11th.
Driving factor analysis
Cost side: Methanol spot market fluctuates widely, forming bottom support for formaldehyde, but with limited upward drive; The rise in methanol is transmitted to formaldehyde with a lag, and downstream acceptance of high prices is limited, resulting in increased resistance to price increases.
On the supply side: Some enterprises have moderately reduced their losses due to profit pressure, and the overall supply of goods is not tight, with moderate inventory accumulation; Losses will constrain further significant downward space, but without large-scale centralized maintenance, the supply elasticity is relatively high.
Demand side (core contradiction): Still in the traditional off-season of summer. Artificial board and urea formaldehyde resin are the largest downstream products, with high temperatures and heavy rainfall. The production of board factories is not high, and the orders for terminal furniture and decoration are relatively weak. Downstream products are mainly for immediate needs, and there is no proactive large-scale replenishment of inventory. The demand is difficult to sustain and expand, which limits the upward height.
Market forecast: In the short term, formaldehyde will mainly fluctuate within a range, with a strong but difficult to sustain a significant increase.
-At the end of August: The off-season has not completely ended, and the recovery of sheet metal production is limited. Formaldehyde is unlikely to experience a unilateral surge, and it is likely to fluctuate within the current range, with small local increases and decreases.
-Early September: With the weather turning cooler, the sheet metal industry is expected to gradually emerge from the off-season, and there is an expectation of replenishment downstream. Prices have a marginal upward momentum for repair, but the height of the rise depends on two factors: ① whether methanol can maintain a strong trend; ② The actual operating rate of the sheet metal factory has rebounded. If downstream production falls short of expectations, the rebound will be significantly reduced and will continue to fluctuate.

Recently, the domestic formic acid market has shown a stepped upward trend, with 85% industrial grade formic acid rising from 1900 yuan/ton on August 17 to 2000 yuan/ton on August 20, an increase of 5.3%.
Supply side: maintenance and resumption of production hedging, dynamic adjustment of production capacity
The supply side is the core variable of price fluctuations this week. At the beginning of the week, some formic acid production units that had previously entered the maintenance phase resumed production to release capacity. At the same time, new units in the market started maintenance as planned, forming a hedge of one increase and one decrease. The overall operating rate did not show a significant tilt, and supply and demand maintained a dynamic balance. Entering the middle of the week, the centralized maintenance of some devices led to a temporary tightening of supply, causing manufacturers to raise prices accordingly.
Inventory and demand: Low to medium level inventory provides support, while insufficient terminal recovery restricts space
The inventory level is an important supporting factor for this week’s prices. During the week, the industry inventory remained at a medium low level, and the centralized maintenance of some devices further compressed the available supply of goods, providing a fundamental basis for manufacturers to raise prices. By the second half of the week, inventory had rebounded to the median level, but there was still no significant backlog, so prices were supported at the 2000 yuan/ton mark. However, the performance on the demand side has always been weak. There is no obvious sign of recovery in downstream terminals, and the enthusiasm for purchasing mainly relies on the expectation of price increases and the stimulation of joint price increases by manufacturers, rather than the substantial expansion of real demand.
Export and Price Boosting: Stable External Demand Becomes the Key Driver of Price Boosting
Some manufacturers’ export orders have shown stable performance, while domestic sales sources are correspondingly tight. Coupled with the joint efforts of production enterprises to raise prices, this has effectively stimulated downstream enthusiasm for purchasing goods, forming a positive cycle of “export diversion – tight domestic supply – rising prices – downstream pursuit of price increases”.
This kind of upward trend driven by rising prices and exports has a certain emotional and phased nature. Once the pace of export orders slows down or the consensus among enterprises to raise prices loosens, and prices lack a solid support from the demand side, the risk of falling back will increase accordingly.
Outlook for the future: The 2000 yuan threshold game is intensifying, and attention is being paid to demand and device trends
Overall, this week’s formic acid market has achieved a slight upward trend in a stepped manner under the resonance of multiple factors such as supply maintenance, low to medium level inventory, stable exports, and enterprise price hikes. However, the biggest weakness has always been the lack of substantial recovery in terminal demand. Looking ahead to the future, the 2000 yuan/ton threshold will become a key position in the long short game, and specific attention still needs to be paid to the dynamic operation of main equipment, inventory changes, and downstream procurement rhythm.

1、 Price trend
This week, the PVC market first rose and then fell, and the futures market rebounded in the middle of the week before falling again over the weekend. The spot market has limited changes, and the mainstream spot market of SG-5 maintains a low range operation. According to the commodity analysis system, PVC fell by 0.63% this week.
Futures: The main PVC contract started at 4496 yuan/ton at the beginning of the week, reached a high of 4782 yuan/ton in the middle of the week, and fell back to around 4540 yuan/ton over the weekend. The overall range fluctuated, and the long and short games were intense. The move of positions and monthly swaps continued.
Spot: Approaching the weekend, the mainstream of East China SG-5 is 4450-4520 yuan/ton; The fluctuation range of spot goods is much smaller than that of futures, and traders ship along with them. Downstream buyers buy a small amount of inventory at low prices, and their willingness to hoard a large amount of goods is not strong.
2、 Factor analysis
Supply side: The maintenance period has not yet expired, and the operating rate is still at a medium low level
This week, the maintenance of industry equipment is still ongoing, and some early maintenance equipment is gradually planned to resume production. The overall operating rate remains above 70%. The maintenance will gradually end in late August, and there is an expectation of a rebound in production in the later stage, which poses a risk of supply pressure rebounding.
Calcium carbide method: Due to the impact of corporate losses, there are many instances of proactive load reduction and maintenance, with a utilization rate of over 70%; The disturbance of power in the northwest indirectly affects the supply of calcium carbide, and the price of calcium carbide remains stable. Calcium carbide production enterprises continue to operate at a loss.
Ethylene process: Due to the transmission of international crude oil geopolitical fluctuations, the cost of ethylene raw materials fluctuates, and the US Iran situation repeatedly disturbs cost expectations. The ethylene process is also in a loss making state, and the load elasticity of the equipment changes with the pace of maintenance.
Demand side: Affected by the off-season, overall performance is sluggish
Currently at the end of the traditional off-season, downstream overall production remains low, and structural differentiation is evident. Pipe material: Due to the sluggish start of new real estate construction, the production rate remains around 30%, with insufficient orders. The product factory mainly purchases for essential needs, and the inventory of raw materials remains low. Profile: performs slightly better than pipe, with nearly 40% of production starting. Some orders come from stock renovation and old renovation projects, but the increment is limited. Export: Overseas demand is flat, coupled with trade barriers in some regions, and there is no significant increase in export orders compared to the previous period, making it difficult to form a strong driving force. Downstream consumers are generally observing and not actively replenishing inventory in large quantities. The real improvement in demand will need to be verified during the traditional peak season in September.
Inventory: Inventory is still running at a medium to high level
This week, PVC continues its trend of reducing inventory, but the effect is average. Currently, the absolute value of inventory is high, and it is difficult to fundamentally alleviate the market supply pressure. Upstream factory inventory has slightly declined; Difficulty in reducing social inventory has suppressed prices. Overall, the extent of destocking is limited, mainly relying on upstream maintenance to reduce production, rather than downstream demand increasing procurement.
Cost aspect:
Calcium carbide: The prices in the main production areas remain stable, and the power supply situation of power plants has become a variable for calcium carbide. The cost forms a bottom support for PVC, but the upward drive is insufficient. According to the Commodity Analysis System of Shengyi Society, the price of calcium carbide increased by 0.41% this week. As shown in the chart, calcium carbide has reached a temporary high.
3、 Future prospects

In the short term, PVC is still mainly in a range oscillation pattern, and the supply and demand fundamentals are difficult to shake. It is difficult to break out of a unilateral market in the short term. On the one hand, production enterprises continue to suffer losses, reducing production to support prices and locking in downward space. On the other hand, the combination of high inventory and weak demand pattern makes it difficult for the market to break through the upward trend. Overall, the market will continue to fluctuate in the coming week.

1、 The market price of lithium fluorophosphate has slightly increased this Saturday. As of August 20th, the benchmark price of lithium hexafluorophosphate (battery grade) from Shengyi Society was 111000.00 yuan/ton, an increase of 3.26% compared to the beginning of this month (107500.00 yuan/ton).
2、 On the raw material side, lithium carbonate (battery grade) maintains a high level of fluctuation, which still provides cost support for lithium hexafluorophosphate. However, the recent narrow range of price fluctuations has limited cost support for lithium hexafluorophosphate. As of August 20th, the benchmark price of Business Society’s lithium carbonate (battery grade) was 149000.00 yuan/ton, an increase of 4.93% compared to the beginning of this month (142000.00 yuan/ton).
3、 Demand side: The downstream production of lithium hexafluorophosphate is strong, and the “Golden Nine and Silver Ten” stocking has been launched. Power battery and energy storage dual wheel drive. In August, the total production of lithium batteries in the domestic market is expected to reach 304 GWh, a month on month increase of 7.4%, of which the production of energy storage cells accounts for 41.1%. Downstream battery companies’ production schedules continue to rise, providing solid bottom support for the price of lithium hexafluorophosphate.
4、 Market forecast: The price of lithium carbonate on the raw material side is expected to remain strong. The seasonal peak season on the demand side is approaching. Overall, lithium hexafluorophosphate is currently in a volatile upward channel under a tight equilibrium pattern. It is expected that there will be sufficient short-term upward momentum but limited space. In the medium and long term, it is necessary to focus on the actual matching between the release of new production capacity and downstream demand.