Report Industry Investment Rating No relevant content provided. Core Viewpoints of the Report - In the short term, due to geopolitical conflicts in Iran driving oil prices, which in turn influence the prices of pure benzene and styrene. Once the geopolitical tensions ease, the market will return to fundamentals. The weak demand for CPL and aniline in the downstream of pure benzene, combined with the pressure of South Korean pure benzene exports to China and high port inventories, keep the processing fees of pure benzene low, dragging down the cost of styrene. For styrene, with the end of the domestic and overseas maintenance peak, the average operation of downstream PS and ABS, and the decline in the cumulative year - on - year growth rate of terminal production scheduling, styrene is in an inventory rebuilding cycle, and production profits are expected to be further compressed. Therefore, it is recommended to cautiously short - sell for hedging on rallies and shrink the EB - BZ spread when it is high [2][9][151]. Summary According to the Directory 1. Market News and Important Data - **2025 Pure Benzene and Downstream Production Capacity Expansion**: In 2025, there are plans to add 210 million tons/year of pure benzene production capacity, with 97 million tons/year already realized and 113 million tons/year to be realized in the second half of the year. The production capacity expansion rate is 2.8% in Q3 and 1.6% in Q4. Attention should be paid to the progress of the 2 reforming and cracking of Yulong Petrochemical's Phase I project. For styrene, the production capacity expansion pressure increases in the second half of the year, with only 500,000 tons of Yulong put into production at the beginning of the year, and the commissioning of Zhongtai Chemical postponed [7][22][23]. - **Pure Benzene Supply**: In the first half of 2025, pure benzene maintenance was concentrated, but port inventory pressure increased. The cumulative year - on - year growth rate of pure benzene production from January to May was 2.8%, mainly due to concentrated refinery maintenance from April to May. After June, domestic production capacity utilization rebounded rapidly. The port inventory pressure was due to a 62.5% cumulative year - on - year increase in imports from January to May and the weak downstream operation, especially the decline in CPL and aniline operations. The negative basis structure of pure benzene deepened to around - 80 yuan/ton in July, and the processing fees were at a historical low [36][38]. - **Pure Benzene Downstream**: In 2025, the downstream operation of pure benzene was less resilient than expected. The cumulative year - on - year growth rate of pure benzene industrial demand from January to May was 11%, with the growth rate of styrene production at 15% and the growth rate of non - styrene downstream demand at 9% (21% in the previous year). CPL and aniline operations declined, while phenol operation was fair but later entered a loss state again, and adipic acid was in an over - supply and loss - reduction cycle [72]. - **Styrene Fundamentals**: In 2025, styrene production profits recovered in the first half of the year, and the operation rate increased. However, with the increase in domestic and overseas supply, production profits are expected to decline. In the first half of the year, overseas maintenance was concentrated, driving exports and reducing port inventories. In the second half of the year, as overseas operations resumed, ports will return to the inventory accumulation cycle. The styrene port inventory reached a historical low in May, and the basis fluctuated greatly. The cumulative year - on - year growth rate of demand from the five major downstream industries of styrene from January to May was 11.7%. The production growth rates of PS and ABS were high but mainly converted into finished - product inventory pressure. The production capacity expansion of the three major hard plastics in 2025 was significant, but the actual demand increase may be less than expected [78][90][118]. 2. Market Analysis - In June, geopolitical conflicts in Iran drove oil prices, which in turn influenced the prices of pure benzene and styrene. After the conflicts eased, the market returned to fundamentals. The weak downstream demand for pure benzene and the high port inventory pressure dragged down the cost of styrene. For styrene, with the end of the maintenance peak and the decline in terminal production scheduling, it is in an inventory rebuilding cycle, and production profits are under pressure [9]. 3. Strategy - Cautiously short - sell for hedging on rallies. Shrink the EB - BZ spread when it is high [10][151].

Core Insights - The Chinese PS industry has experienced a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 13% since 2019, driven by profit motives, downstream demand growth, and integrated project extensions, but is now facing an oversupply situation due to demand growth lagging behind supply growth [1][3][5] - The industry is expected to continue expanding, with total PS capacity projected to exceed 8 million tons by the end of 2025 [1] Production Capacity and Utilization - From 2020 to 2024, domestic PS capacity is steadily increasing, with a CAGR of 13.36% since 2019, although the pace of new project launches is slowing down due to mismatched supply and demand growth [1][3] - The annual capacity utilization rate for the PS industry is projected to decline to 63.87% in 2024 and below 60% by the end of 2025 [5] Profitability Trends - The profitability of the PS industry has fluctuated, with a peak in 2020 due to export benefits, where GPPS and HIPS gross profit margins reached 1722 CNY/ton and 3200 CNY/ton respectively [3] - Since 2021, the industry has faced declining profitability, with average losses for GPPS and HIPS due to supply-demand imbalances, although a slight recovery is expected in 2024-2025 [3][5] Import and Export Dynamics - The import dependency of the Chinese PS market has decreased, with the import volume declining to a low of 10.65% as domestic production has increased [7] - The export volume of Chinese PS has seen a compound growth rate of 40.52% since 2019, with exports expected to reach 215,900 tons in 2024, nearly six times the volume in 2020 [7][9] Regional Export Insights - Southeast Asia remains the primary export market for Chinese PS, with Vietnam consistently accounting for 21-28% of exports from 2020 to 2025 [9] - The share of exports to Europe has increased from 4% in 2021 to 22% in 2024, driven by high costs in Europe and a demand gap [10] Future Outlook - The competition in the PS market is expected to intensify, leading to further price advantages and a stable increase in export proportions, particularly for ordinary grades of PS [12][14] - The supply of high-end PS resources remains limited, with the majority of future demand likely to be met domestically rather than through exports [14]