In China, supply/demand of propylene was perceived to be slack. Propylene facilities including propane dehydrogenation (PDH) units that had been undergoing turnaround restarted operations in September onward. As a result, supply became plentiful. On the other hand, the market for several derivatives including polypropylene remained soft and buying interest in feedstock propylene was dull.

Meanwhile, supply/demand is expected to tighten in October onwards. On the supply side, Hebei Haiwei, Lihuayi Weiyuan and Tianjin Bohua are scheduled to carry out regular maintenance for their PDH facilities and Zhenhua Petrochemical is anticipated to reduce operation rates of its PDH facilities. In this situation, supply of propylene is likely to decrease. Further, as demand for heating would become firm in November onwards, costs for feedstocks such as propane might rise. As for demand, some new derivative facilities are scheduled to start up in the period October to December.

Market players forecast that the propylene market would be affected by the crude oil market, the start-up situation of new derivative facilities and operation status of PDH facilities.