Report Industry Investment Rating - Not provided in the content Core Viewpoints - Since February, the supply - demand pattern of domestic styrene has changed from tight - balance to loose, and the styrene futures contract 2603 has shown a downward trend. Given the difficult improvement of the short - term supply - demand structure, the future price is expected to maintain a weak and volatile trend [2]. - The domestic styrene supply will shift from "tight" to "relatively loose", and the increase brought by device restart is the core variable. The demand shows a seasonal decline and is suppressed by profits, forming a "supply increase and demand decrease" combination. With the inventory starting to accumulate, the domestic styrene futures are expected to maintain a weak and volatile trend [4][5][6]. Summaries by Related Catalogs Supply Side - In January 2026, some domestic styrene devices had unexpected overhauls, resulting in a tight supply. The industry's operating rate was at a low level in recent years, and the monthly output's year - on - year increase narrowed. After entering February, as the overhauled devices restarted, the supply recovery became the main line. As of the week of February 6, the national styrene operating rate rose to 69.96%, and the weekly output was 35.09 tons, with a week - on - week increase of 0.68% and 0.98% respectively. It is expected that this week, the domestic styrene output will be about 36.5 tons, and the capacity utilization rate will be about 73.5% [3]. - In the first half of 2026, there are few new production capacities, and the industry is in a "production capacity vacuum period". The supply elasticity mainly comes from the operating rate fluctuations. From January to February this year, the port inventory of pure benzene in China was high, and the Asian arbitrage space was limited. The import volume of styrene remained neutral without obvious incremental impact [4]. Demand Side - Styrene demand highly depends on EPS, PS, and ABS. The Spring Festival effect and profit negative feedback jointly suppress demand. As of the week of February 6, the consumption of domestic styrene's main downstream was 26.04 tons, with a week - on - week increase of 0.18 tons and an increase of 0.70%. It is expected that the overall demand of the three major downstream factories this week will be between 23.5 - 24 tons, showing a decrease. As the Spring Festival approaches, the downstream enters the pre - holiday shutdown stage, with demand reduction and only rigid - demand procurement. The price increase of styrene cannot be smoothly transmitted downstream, and some downstream enterprises are in a loss state and reduce production, further weakening the demand [5]. Inventory - In January, domestic styrene achieved a de - stocking of about 60,000 tons, and the inventory in the main ports of East China and factories was at a low level. In February, the inventory accumulation cycle gradually started, and the port and factory inventories increased simultaneously. As of February 2, 2026, the total inventory of styrene samples in Jiangsu ports was 108,600 tons, with a week - on - week increase of 8,000 tons and an increase of 7.95%. The social inventory accumulation weakens the support for styrene [6].