Since mid August, the domestic PTA spot market has shown a slight weakening trend. As of August 23, the average market price was 4965 yuan / ton, down 6.86% from August 15 and up 38.82% year-on-year.

In terms of units, Helen petrochemical 2#1.2 million tons and Ningbo Taihua 1.2 million tons PTA units were restarted, 30% of Yisheng new materials were started, the operating rate of PTA industry increased to more than 78%, and the supply was relatively sufficient.

In the crude oil market, as the epidemic situation increased the panic expectation of the market, the crude oil price fell to a low point in recent three months, weakening the support for PTA cost. As of August 20, the settlement price of the main contract in the U.S. WTI crude oil futures market was reported as USD 62.32/barrel, and the settlement price of the main contract in Brent crude oil futures market was reported as USD 65.18/barrel.

In terms of demand, some polyester units were restarted, and the operating rate increased slightly to around 83%, but overall, the production and sales of polyester were poor, and the increase of polyester load may be limited. In addition, the start of terminal weaving has weakened and the overall demand has declined.

Business analysts believe that the cost side oil price is weak, weakening the support for PTA. In terms of supply, the 3.3 million tons of Yisheng new material is planned to increase to 60% in the near future. There is a possibility of a slight increase at the PTA supply end, the downstream demand performance is poor, and the negative factors at both ends of supply and demand appear. It is expected that the PTA price will remain weak in the later period.