Since the Russia-Ukraine conflict in end-Feb, petrochemicals have been driven up by the spikes in crude oil.

Since the Russia-Ukraine conflict in end-Feb, petrochemicals have been driven up by the spikes in crude oil. However, with price gains in petrochemicals lagging behind that in raw material, the profits for most products have been squeezed rapidly. PX-naphtha spread narrowed to $142/mt on Mar 7, new low since end-Dec 2021; and PTA-PX spread was crunched to -12yuan/mt, hitting record low. The composite profits of polyester (including POY, FDY, PSF and PET bottle chip) has also fallen to negative territory, worst since end-Sep 2021. In addition, MEG also suffers from losses