China's Sinopec has finalized its paraxylene contract price for April at 9,765 yuan/mt ($1,429.84), up marginally by 0.15% from its March CP settlement, industry sources said on Monday.
The company initially nominated its April CP at 9,700 yuan/mt, a 50 yuan/mt decrease from the March settlement. The adjustment follows a period of demand stabilization as Middle East geopolitical tensions eased, cooling the supply chain disruptions that previously drove prices higher in the local market.
In addition, PX prices softened in April as feedstock shortages forced production cuts across the polyester chain. The average Chinese PX plant operating rate slipped 0.1 percentage point week on week to 79.7% on April 30, while the average purified terephthalic acid plant operating rate rose 1.3 percentage points week on week to 66.3%, remaining significantly depressed compared to last year's 82%. Similarly, while the average Chinese polyester plant run is hovering at 82.4%, this is lower by 11.4 percentage points year on year.
Asian PX supply tightened as the second-quarter maintenance cycle began; however, this squeeze was mitigated by a parallel slowdown in the PTA sector, which curbed feedstock consumption. Notable domestic PX Chinese plants that saw turnarounds in April included Fujian Fuhaichuang Petroleum Chemical Industry Co.'s 800,000 mt/year plant in Fujian, Sinopec Jinling Co.'s 600,000 mt/year plant in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Petroleum and Chemical Co.'s 2 million mt/year plant in Zhoushan. Elsewhere in Asia, Ulsan Aromatics Co's 1 million mt/year plant in South Korea was also taken offline for maintenance.
Exacerbating the PX supply tightness was a series of force majeure actions triggered by Middle East-related supply chain disruptions. On Tuesday, China's Hengyi Industries declared force majeure on supplies from its Pulau Muara Besar complex in Brunei following an upstream refinery disruption. Concurrently, Thai Paraxylene Co. issued a similar declaration for PX and other aromatics, citing feedstock shortages linked to regional geopolitical tensions. Both notices were dated April 28 and seen by OPIS.
Earlier, on April 13, Hanwha TotalEnergies Petrochemical declared force majeure on PX supply due to delivery disruptions of raw materials required for production amid the Middle East conflict, according to a company notice seen by OPIS.
Conversely, ongoing maintenance at Chinese PTA plants provided much-needed relief to the tightening PX market. Significant shutdowns included Hengli Petrochemical's Dalian units (4.7 million mt/year total), Sanfangxiang's Jiangyin facilities (3.2 million mt/year), and Xinfengming's Tongxiang plant (3 million mt/year). Collectively, these 10.9 million mt of PTA outages reduced PX demand by an estimated 7.14-7.19 million mt. This demand-side reduction, alongside lower PTA operating rates, kept PX demand stable compared to March and effectively prevented any significant price hikes.
Sinopec has settled its April PTA CP at 6,570 yuan/mt, up 3.3% month on month amid tighter supply. The company utilizes a nomination and settlement mechanism to establish both PX and PTA monthly pricing with its customer base. Sinopec has nominated its May PX CP at 9,900 yuan/mt.
This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
--Reporting by Serena Seng, sseng@opisnet.com; Editing by Mei-Hwen Wong, mwong@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 04, 2026 01:36 ET (05:36 GMT)
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