This week, the mixed xylene market saw a slight increase, with a benchmark price of 6151 yuan/ton on June 19, 2026, falling to 5901 yuan/ton on June 26, a 4.06% decrease during the cycle.

This week, the domestic mixed xylene market continued its deep weak downward trend, with a significant downward shift in market focus and a sluggish trading atmosphere. The overall market is in a weak adjustment trend. Affected by the continuous weakening of the cost side, loose pressure on the supply side, and weak demand side during the off-season, the market has no upward momentum in the long short game, and the overall operation is under significant pressure.
Cost aspect: Weakening of crude oil volatility and insufficient support
This week, the overall international crude oil market showed a volatile downward trend, with only a few trading days experiencing a slight rebound due to factors such as geopolitical situations. The overall volatility was weak, and the cost support for the xylene market remained weak. The aromatic hydrocarbon futures market fluctuates synchronously with the crude oil trend, mostly running short, making it difficult to boost confidence in the spot market. During the week, crude oil prices fell below key levels multiple times, leading to a decrease in overall raw material costs in the market. Petrochemical companies continued to lower their quotes, further lowering the central spot prices in the market. At the end of the month, crude oil closed slightly higher and aromatics were stronger in the evening session, but it could only briefly boost market sentiment and could not reverse the weak cost side pattern, resulting in insufficient overall bottoming out effect. On June 25th, the settlement price of WTI crude oil futures in the United States was $71.92 per barrel, and the settlement price of Brent crude oil futures for the September contract was $75.50 per barrel.
Supply side:
Domestic refineries have maintained stable operation, with a relatively small number of mixed xylene unit maintenance enterprises this week. Mainstream production enterprises are running smoothly, and the market circulation of goods continues to be abundant. The main production areas such as East China, South China, and North China have sufficient supply of goods, and the flow of goods between regions is smooth without obvious supply shortages. The pace of local refining and shipping is stable, and the overall circulating inventory in the market is at a reasonably high level. The pressure of port inventory is controllable, but due to weak terminal demand, the pace of inventory digestion continues to slow down, which has a hidden suppression on spot prices. At the same time, the activity of export negotiations is low, the willingness to purchase in the international market is weak, and the flow of goods through export channels is not smooth, making it difficult to effectively divert surplus domestic sources of goods, further exacerbating the loose supply pattern in the domestic market and continuing to suppress the rebound space of the market.
Demand side:
This week, the industry is in a traditional off-season for consumption, and the overall downstream demand release pace is slow. There is a strong wait-and-see sentiment in the market, and the market as a whole maintains a rigid demand and on-demand delivery model. The operating rate of the terminal industry remains low, the overall downstream order follow-up is insufficient, and there is a lack of support for bulk procurement. Most small and medium-sized enterprises maintain a low inventory operation strategy. After the continuous decline in market prices in the early stage, although there was a slight increase in downstream willingness to buy on dips, most of them were short-term small order restocking, and the overall purchasing power was weak, making it difficult to drive the overall trading atmosphere in the market to recover. At the same time, the price difference performance of related categories in the market is average, and the industry’s profit margin is limited, further suppressing the enthusiasm of downstream concentrated procurement. The overall demand has always been difficult to provide strong support to the market.

Market forecast:
The short-term mixed xylene market continues to fluctuate at a low level, with no obvious signs of recovery in the market, and prices are difficult to break away from a weak pattern in the short term. There is still uncertainty in the fluctuation of crude oil on the cost side, and the pressure of abundant supply on the supply side continues. The demand side has weak recovery during the off-season, and there is still a slight possibility of price decline under multiple bearish factors. We will continue to closely monitor the trend of crude oil prices and refinery maintenance. With the gradual end of the off-season, downstream demand is expected to steadily rebound. Coupled with the gradual adjustment of market fundamentals, it is expected that the mixed xylene market will gradually stop falling in the future, and there is a possibility of a moderate recovery trend in the later stage.