Report Summary - **Report Industry Investment Rating**: Not provided - **Core View of the Report**: The night - session prices of both crude oil and methanol rose. Crude oil prices were affected by US CPI data, inventory changes, and strategic reserve adjustments. Methanol is expected to be short - term bullish, with开工 load and inventory conditions influencing its price [3] Futures Market Crude Oil - The previous day's closing prices of SC near - month, SC next - month, WTI near - month, WTI next - month, Brent near - month, and Brent next - month were 479.5, 470.5, 61.96, 61.53, 66.60, and 66.10 respectively. The price changes were - 2.8, - 2.1, 0.90, 0.95, 1.61, and 1.55, with corresponding percentage changes of - 0.58%, - 0.44%, 1.47%, 1.57%, 2.48%, and 2.40% [2] - The trading volumes were 77,046, 52,260, 290,296, 223,289, 417,955, and 270,581 respectively, and the open interests were 15,073, 24,340, 200,444, 280,659, 494,806, and 422,865 respectively. The changes in open interests were - 2650, 863, - 18975, 9999, - 32629, and - 513 respectively [2] - The current spreads of SC near - month - SC next - month, SC next - month - SC next - next - month, SC near - month - WTI near - month, SC near - month - Brent near - month, WTI near - month - WTI next - month, and Brent near - month - Brent next - month were 9.0, 470.5, 33.7, 0.3, 3.10, and 0.50 respectively, with previous values of 9.7, 182.6, 43.0, 14.7, 3.46, and 0.44 respectively [2] Methanol - The previous day's closing prices of 01, 05, and 09 contracts were 2354, 2380, and 2291 respectively. The price changes were 20.0, 42.0, and 21.0, with percentage changes of 0.86%, 1.80%, and 0.93% respectively [2] - The trading volumes were 52,758, 990, and 766,446 respectively, and the open interests were 163,172, 3,319, and 764,051 respectively. The changes in open interests were 6087, - 542, and 6569 respectively [2] - The spot prices in the port (in US dollars), East China, North China, and South China were 260, 2465, 2230, and 2395 respectively, with price changes of 3, 10, 5, and 13 respectively [2] Market Commentary and Strategy Crude Oil - The night - session oil prices continued to rise. The US April CPI increased by 2.3% year - on - year, and the month - on - month data turned from - 0.1% to 0.2%, lower than the market expectation of 2.4% [3] - The API data showed that last week, US commercial crude oil inventories increased by 4.287 million barrels, gasoline inventories decreased by 1.374 million barrels, distillate inventories decreased by 3.675 million barrels, and Cushing crude oil inventories decreased by 850,000 barrels. The US strategic petroleum reserve increased by 500,000 barrels to 39.96 million barrels [3] Methanol - The night - session price of methanol rose by 2.1%. The average operating load of domestic coal (methanol) to olefin plants was 75.99%, a decrease of 2.08 percentage points compared to the previous period [3] - As of May 8, the overall operating load of domestic methanol plants was 75.65%, an increase of 1.22 percentage points compared to the previous period and 5.77 percentage points higher than the same period last year [3] - As of May 8, the coastal methanol inventory was 619,000 tons (at a historical low), an increase of 1,000 tons or 0.16% compared to April 30, and a decrease of 0.75% year - on - year. The estimated available methanol supply in the coastal area was around 212,000 tons [3] - According to incomplete statistics from Zhuochuang Information, the expected arrival volume of imported methanol ships from May 9 to May 25 is between 700,000 and 710,000 tons. Methanol is expected to be short - term bullish [3]

Report Industry Investment Rating - The strategy is neutral [3] Core Viewpoints - The explosion at the Shahid Rajaee Port in Iran on April 26 had limited impact as the methanol shipping port Assalueh was operating normally and the port resumed cargo import and export on April 27 [2] - From the port perspective, downstream MTO plants had maintenance plans, the external market operating rate was high, and imports were increasing, but the inland market was strong, and the port was still destocking, with the inventory inflection point yet to be realized. The future port restocking cycle depends on inland supply and demand [2] - From the inland perspective, the peak of coal - based methanol maintenance has passed, but the increase in operating rate is slow. The traditional downstream operating rate maintains some resilience, and the future variable lies in its change. The production profit of coal - based methanol is still high [2] Summary by Directory I. Methanol Basis & Inter - period Structure - The report presents various charts related to methanol basis, including methanol Taicang basis and the main contract, and basis between different regional spot and main futures [6][8][10] - It also shows the price differences between different methanol futures contracts, such as methanol 01 - 05, 05 - 09, and 09 - 01 contracts [19][21] II. Methanol Production Profit, MTO Profit, Import Profit - Charts display the production profit of Inner Mongolia coal - based methanol, the profit of East China MTO (PP&EG type), and import price differences such as Taicang methanol - CFR China, CFR Southeast Asia - CFR China, FOB US Gulf - CFR China, and FOB Rotterdam - CFR China [24][30][29] III. Methanol Operating Rate, Inventory - Charts show the total port inventory of methanol, MTO/P operating rate (including integrated ones), inland factory sample inventory, and China's methanol operating rate (including integrated ones) [33][35] IV. Regional Price Differences - The report provides charts on regional price differences, such as Lubei - Northwest - 280, East China - Inner Mongolia - 550, Taicang - Lunan - 250, Lunan - Taicang - 100, Guangdong - East China - 180, and East China - Sichuan - Chongqing - 200 [37][42][45] V. Traditional Downstream Profits - Charts present the production gross margins of traditional downstream products, including Shandong formaldehyde, Jiangsu acetic acid, Shandong MTBE isomerization etherification, and Henan dimethyl ether [49][52]