Epoxy Resin Takes a Rollercoaster Ride and Enters a Brief Freezing Period

After a continuous price rally from July to early August, epoxy resin has once again cooled down and entered a brief freezing period. Low raw material prices and sluggish downstream demand fail to provide support for high-end price levels, leaving the domestic market with an overall weak performance. In addition, capacity expansion of epoxy resin in Asia may flood supply into the European market, putting downward pressure on global epoxy resin prices. Construction and automotive sectors are the two most important downstream industries for epoxy resin, and actual consumption remains dependent on changing demand trends.

In terms of raw materials, epichlorohydrin, the key upstream feedstock, has kept falling since August. After major manufacturers pushed prices up to 13,000 yuan/ton in July, market sentiment remained tepid. Prices slipped rapidly at the start of the month: spot prices dropped by over 1,000 yuan to 10,300–10,500 yuan/ton, while nominal prices fell more than 2,000 yuan to 10,900–11,000 yuan/ton.

Bisphenol A edged up slightly in early August before retreating in mid-to-late August, once falling below the month’s opening level to 12,700 yuan/ton. Affected by the two major raw materials, epoxy resin prices fluctuated within a narrow range and began to decline from mid-August. Domestic weak demand remains difficult to improve. Both solid and liquid epoxy resins are trapped in a sluggish market, with little momentum for price increases, poor trading activity, and an overall weak market trend.

On the downstream side, the current output of solid and liquid epoxy resins has reached a saturated level. Most manufacturers maintain normal production, with the overall operating rate standing at about 50% to 60%. Downstream demand has long remained at a low level, keeping the supply–demand fundamentals bearish. Market transaction volume is limited, and price competition among resin manufacturers is inevitable. Especially for solid epoxy resin, some small factories keep offering low-price goods. In certain regions, low-grade products are even traded near 15,500 yuan/ton, while mainstream negotiation prices linger between 15,900 and 16,500 yuan/ton.

Most liquid resin manufacturers adopt the strategy of high asking prices but low actual transaction prices, with a gap of nearly 1,000 yuan between quoted and real deal prices, making nominal prices less referential. A few manufacturers temporarily suspended production to wait and see, setting quotations closer to spot levels, yet still facing slow sales and stagnant inventory digestion. Downstream end-users are scattered with small and sporadic consumption, and tend to buy on rises rather than dips, making promotional policies ineffective for regular sales.