Investment Rating - The industry investment rating is "Positive (Maintain)" [7] Core Viewpoints - This week, oil prices experienced a slight decline, while the prices of acrylic acid and coal tar saw significant increases. The report emphasizes a focus on leading companies with strong alpha that are less correlated with oil prices, suggesting a bottom-fishing strategy. It also highlights the importance of domestic demand and opportunities in new material domestic substitution, particularly in the agricultural chemical sector during the spring farming peak [9][17]. Summary by Sections Oil and Chemical Prices Information - As of May 23, Brent oil price decreased by 0.96% to $64.78 per barrel. The report notes that U.S. commercial crude oil inventories increased by 1.3 million barrels to 443.2 million barrels, with gasoline inventories rising by 800,000 barrels and distillate inventories by 600,000 barrels [13][14]. - Among 188 monitored chemical products, the top three price increases this week were acrylic acid (up 10.8%), coal tar (up 7.6%), and anthracene oil (up 5.7%). The largest declines were seen in liquid chlorine (down 16.7%), formic acid (down 8.0%), and tetrachloroethylene (down 7.2%) [9][14]. Price and Spread Changes - The report indicates that the top three products with the largest weekly price increases were acrylic acid (up 10.8%), coal tar (up 7.6%), and anthracene oil (up 5.7%). The largest monthly price increases were liquid chlorine (up 40.2%), but it also noted significant declines in formic acid (down 29.2%) [9][15]. - The top three products with the largest weekly spread increases were MTP spread (up 35.0%), acrylic acid spread (up 33.2%), and BDO spread (up 29.5%). The report also highlights significant declines in the spreads of acrylic acid butyl ester (down 710.1%) and R410a spread (down 100.0%) [9][19]. Investment Recommendations - The report recommends several companies for investment: - Wanhua Chemical (600309, Buy): Core product MDI is seeing profit improvements, with new petrochemical and new material projects coming online [17]. - Huangma Technology (603181, Buy): A leading special polyether company that has entered a growth phase again [17]. - Runfeng Co., Ltd. (301035, Buy): A rare company with a global layout for formulation registration and sales channels [17]. - Guoguang Co., Ltd. (002749, Buy): A leading company in the plant growth regulator sector [17]. - Hualu Hengsheng (600426, Buy): Core product prices are recovering alongside a decline in coal prices, leading to continuous improvement in spreads [17].

Investment Rating - The industry investment rating is "Positive (Maintain)" [7] Core Viewpoints - Oil prices experienced a slight decline this week, with a focus on leading companies that have strong alpha and are less correlated with oil prices, suggesting a bottom-fishing strategy. The report emphasizes the importance of domestic demand and opportunities in new material domestic substitution, particularly in the agricultural chemical sector during the spring farming peak [17][9][5]. Summary by Sections Oil and Chemical Prices Information - As of May 23, Brent oil price decreased by 0.96% to $64.78 per barrel. The increase in U.S. commercial crude oil inventory and OPEC+ production expectations contributed to this decline. As of May 16, U.S. crude oil commercial inventory was 443.2 million barrels, with a weekly increase of 1.3 million barrels [13][2]. - Among 188 monitored chemical products, the top three price increases this week were acrylic acid (up 10.8%), coal tar (up 7.6%), and anthracene oil (up 5.7%). The largest declines were in liquid chlorine (down 16.7%), formic acid (down 8.0%), and tetrachloroethylene (down 7.2%) [14][9]. Price Spread Changes - The top three price spread increases this week were MTP spread (up 35.0%), acrylic acid spread (up 33.2%), and BDO spread (up 29.5%). The largest declines were in acrylic acid butyl ester spread (down 710.1%), R410a spread (down 100.0%), and lithium hexafluorophosphate spread (down 20.7%) [19][9]. - Monthly, the top three price spread increases were in styrene (up 192.7%), oil head ethylene glycol spread (up 130.1%), and MTO spread (up 119.6%). The largest declines were in acrylic acid butyl ester spread (down 2675.6%), BDO (phenol method) spread (down 370.9%), and R410a spread (down 100.0%) [19][9]. Investment Recommendations - Recommended companies include: - Wanhua Chemical (600309, Buy): Core product MDI shows recent profit improvement, with upcoming petrochemical and new material projects [17]. - Huangma Technology (603181, Buy): A leading special polyether company that has entered a growth phase again [17]. - Runfeng Co., Ltd. (301035, Buy): A rare company with global formulation registration and sales channels [17]. - Guoguang Co., Ltd. (002749, Buy): A leading domestic differentiated formulation company in the plant growth regulator industry [17]. - Hualu Hengsheng (600426, Buy): Core product price recovery combined with falling coal prices leads to continuous improvement in spreads [17].