In the first half of the year,"Chemical Industry" increased its income but did not increase its profits. Its revenue hit a record high in the same period, and its net profit dropped by 4.6% year-on-year.

On August 12, Wanhua Chemical Group Co., Ltd.(Wanhua Chemical, 600309) announced that in the first half of 2024, the company achieved revenue of 97.067 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.77%, a record high for the same period; Net profit was 8.174 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 4.6%; Basic earnings per share was 2.6 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 4.76%.

Among them, in the second quarter, Wanhua Chemical achieved revenue of 50.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11%; net profit of 4.01 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 11%.

Wanhua Chemical is currently the world's largest supplier of MDI and TDI, with business covering four major industrial clusters: polyurethane, petrochemicals, fine chemicals, and emerging materials.

In the first half of this year, Wanhua Chemical Polyurethane business achieved revenue of 35.455 billion yuan, petrochemical series products and LPG trading business achieved revenue of 39.575 billion yuan, and fine chemicals and new materials series business achieved revenue of 12.979 billion yuan.

Wanhua Chemical said that in the first half of the year, demand in the global polyurethane industry maintained a growth trend, especially in the markets of refrigerators, freezers, automobiles, etc., maintained growth. Investment demand in the overseas construction industry improved. Supply fluctuations in some overseas devices, coupled with the continued high price of pure benzene, has a pushing effect on the price of polyurethane products.

In addition, affected by multiple factors such as fluctuations in international crude oil market prices and insufficient downstream demand in the petrochemical industry, although the petrochemical industry has recovered slightly, the overall profit level of the industry is still at a relatively low level.

In terms of raw materials, in the first half of 2024, the average price of pure benzene was 8652 yuan/ton, up 24.35% year-on-year; the average price of 5000 kcal thermal coal was 777 yuan/ton, down 13.28% year-on-year; The average price of propane CP was US$609/ton, down 0.16% year-on-year; the average price of butane CP was US$613/ton, which was the same as the same period last year.

In terms of price, in the first half of 2024, demand for pure MDI products will be stable, but competition in the downstream industry is fierce, with an average market price of around 20000 yuan/ton. The market price of polymeric MDI products fluctuated upward, with the average market price in the first half of the year around 16500 yuan/ton. The market supply of TDI products is sufficient, and the market price has declined. The average price in the first half of the year was 15200 yuan/ton. For soft foam polyether products, the home furnishing industry fell year-on-year in the first half of the year, while domestic and foreign sales in the automobile industry showed a growth trend. The average market price of polyether in the first half of the year was around 9070 yuan/ton.

Petrochemical products increased and fell compared with the same period last year. Overall, in the first half of the year, the price of n-butanol in Shandong was 8290 yuan/ton, up 9.95% year-on-year; the price of NPG hydrogenation in East China was 10563 yuan/ton, up 3.6% year-on-year; the price of LLDPE film grade in East China was 8344 yuan/ton, up 2.38% year-on-year; the price of butyl acrylate in Shandong was 9284 yuan/ton, up 0.83% year-on-year; the price of PP wire drawing in East China was 7510 yuan/ton, up 0.13% year-on-year.

In addition, the price of ethylene-based PVC in East China was 5914 yuan/ton, down 4.93% year-on-year; the price of acrylic acid in Shandong was 6193 yuan/ton, down 4.55% year-on-year; the price of MTBE in Shandong was 6857 yuan/ton, down 4.46% year-on-year; the price of propylene in Shandong was 6875 yuan/ton, down 1.9% year-on-year.

It is worth noting that on June 29, 2024, the first phase of the 200,000 tons/year POE project of Wanhua Chemical New Materials Division achieved full process integration and produced qualified products on the same day, marking China's first large-scale independent The developed POE industrial device was successfully driven with high quality at one time.

According to the announcement, emerging businesses such as citral, flavors and fragrances are also advancing industrialization.

Wanhua Chemical said that in the second half of 2024, in terms of production, the company will continue to improve the level of production safety management through digital and intelligent means to ensure stable production of equipment. In terms of project construction, we will continue to promote the construction of Phase II of ethylene and Phase I of Penglai, and strive to be put into production as scheduled.

According to the list of the top 50 global chemical companies in 2024 released by Chemical and Engineering News (C EN), Wanhua Chemical ranks 16th.

As of August 12, Wanhua Chemical closed at 74.92 yuan/share, with a total market value of 235.23 billion yuan.