丙烯系列报告：丙烯期货及产业链基础知识

1. Report Core View - The launch of new propylene futures is expected to promote the combination of futures and spot markets, enhance and meet the diverse risk management needs of physical enterprises, help the market discover prices, and further promote the healthy and stable development of the industry. The report comprehensively analyzes and introduces the propylene variety from a basic perspective, covering futures contracts, industry characteristics, and development trends [2][3] 2. Report Content Summary 2.1 Propylene Futures Contract - Contract Introduction: The trading code of propylene futures is PL, with a trading unit of 20 tons per lot. Based on the average spot price of propylene in 2024 of about 6,900 yuan/ton, the value of each lot is about 138,000 yuan. The minimum price change is 1 yuan/ton, and the contract months are from January to December. The last trading day is the 10th trading day of the contract month [7][9][10] - Option Contract: The trading code for call options is PL - contract month - C - strike price, and for put options is PL - contract month - P - strike price. The trading unit is 1 lot of propylene futures contract, the minimum price change is 0.5 yuan/ton, and the contract months are the two consecutive near - months of the underlying futures contract. The last trading day is the third - last trading day before (and including) the 15th calendar day of the month before the delivery month of the underlying futures contract [12] - Delivery Grade: The benchmark delivery product is Type I propylene that meets the requirements of "National Standard of the People's Republic of China - Polymer - grade Propylene" (GB/T 7716 - 2024), with a water content ≤ 20mg/kg, and no requirements for hydrogen and carbonyl sulfide. The alternative delivery product allows a water content of 20 - 50mg/kg, with other indicators the same as the benchmark product [7][14] - Risk Management: The minimum trading margin for propylene futures contracts is 5% of the contract value. The margin standard increases to 10% from the 16th calendar day of the month before the delivery month to the last calendar day of that month, and to 20% during the delivery month. The position limit for non - futures company members and customers is 2,000 lots from contract listing to the 15th calendar day of the month before the delivery month, 500 lots from the 16th calendar day to the last calendar day of that month, and 50 lots (0 for natural person customers) during the delivery month [16][17][18] 2.2 Propylene Basic Concepts - Physical Properties: Propylene has a density of 1.914 kg/m³, a melting point of - 185°C, a boiling point of - 47.7°C, a flash point of - 108°C, an ignition temperature of 460°C, and a saturated vapor pressure of 1158 kPa. It burns with a bright flame, has low solubility in water, and is soluble in organic solvents such as ethanol and ether [20] - Chemical Properties: The chemical properties of propylene are determined by the double bond and the hydrogen atoms on the allyl group. It is the smallest stable unsaturated hydrocarbon with low symmetry, an electric dipole moment of 0.35D, and is prone to various chemical reactions [21] - Storage and Transportation: Propylene should be stored in pressurized liquefied form in carbon steel or stainless - steel containers, and long - term storage can use low - temperature liquefaction with vacuum - insulated storage tanks. Safety measures such as fire and explosion prevention, leakage prevention, and electrostatic protection are required. Transportation methods include road, rail, sea, and pipeline, and appropriate means should be selected according to distance and volume [24] 2.3 Propylene Industry Chain - Overview: The propylene industry chain has the "petroleum - propylene - polypropylene" as the core. The upstream includes petroleum, natural gas, coal, propane, naphtha, and methanol. The mid - stream involves production processes such as cracking, dehydrogenation, and coal - chemical processes. The downstream includes chemicals such as polypropylene, propylene oxide, and butanol, and the end - use demand is complex, covering multiple fields such as plastics, coatings, and textiles [26] - Production Processes - Steam Cracking: It is the core process for producing low - carbon olefins in the petrochemical industry, with ethylene as the core product and propylene as a co - product. In 2024, it accounted for about 35% of propylene supply. The product yield is negatively correlated with the molecular weight of the raw material. Although it currently maintains a basic supply position, its share is gradually decreasing [32] - Catalytic Cracking: It is a key secondary processing technology in oil refining. The conventional propylene yield is about 4%, while the DCC technology can achieve a propylene yield of over 20% [36] - Coal - to - Propylene: It includes CTO and MTO/MTP technologies. The MTP technology can increase the propylene selectivity to over 70%. China's coal - to - olefin industry is on a sustainable development path [39] - Propane/Alkane Dehydrogenation: The PDH process uses propane as the raw material and has advantages such as a short construction period, low investment cost, and low carbon emissions. In 2024, it accounted for about 30% of domestic propylene production capacity. The MDH process uses liquefied petroleum gas as the raw material and has strong raw material adaptability [41][42]