Acrylic acid is one of the key downstream products of propylene, with annual propylene consumption accounting for about 4% of the total domestic propylene consumption. In terms of application fields, adhesives are the largest application area for acrylic acid, accounting for about 30%; superabsorbent polymers (SAP) are the second largest application area, accounting for about 25%; coatings are the third largest application area, accounting for about 24%.

　　Recently, propylene prices have surged dramatically, becoming a hot topic among domestic chemical industry professionals. On April 12th, propylene market prices in Shandong continued to skyrocket, with daily price increases generally exceeding 1000 yuan/ton, an increase of 35.02%, and some companies even saw price hikes of 5000 yuan/ton, nearly a 100% increase.

　　The madness of propylene is closely related to the drive from downstream polypropylene.

　　The direct downstream product of crude oil is propylene, while the downstream product of propylene is polypropylene. For a long time, due to crude oil and polypropylene being traded as futures commodities and having strong market attention and influence, the price transmission of propylene has not been clearly reflected. However, recently affected by international circumstances, many countries have introduced production reduction policies that benefit crude oil markets and drive up propylene prices.

　　With such craziness in the propylene market, will it affect the coatings and adhesives industries?

　　As can be seen from the above figure, acrylic acid occupies a core position in the entire industrial chain. Through chemical processes, it can derive a series of compounds that form a large category of acrylic acid series products. Therefore, the acrylic acid industrial chain can be divided into upstream raw materials such as petroleum, natural gas and propylene; midstream belonging to acrylic acid and ester industries; and downstream mainly including acrylate esters, SAPs, acrylic rubber and high-performance materials used in coatings, adhesives, synthetic rubber textiles and building materials.

　　The coatings and adhesives industries are key downstream application sectors for acrylic acid emulsions/resins and are closely related to the propylene industry.

　　With continuous fluctuations in supply and demand, the price focus of propylene will also change accordingly; there is basically no stable pricing phase in the market. With raw material propylene skyrocketing and pressure on downstream end users who have resistance to high-priced raw materials leading to a strong wait-and-see atmosphere; it is expected that in the short term industry enterprises should pay more attention to market news guidance. Where will the market lead upstream and downstream industries related to coatings and adhesives? Let us observe its changes.