US crude oil inventory increases significantly, Eurozone inflation explodes: April 1st commodity intelligence

Business Society, April 1st News

Latest information on bulk raw materials

macro

1. In March 2026, the Business Society Commodity Supply and Demand Index (BCI) was 0.64, with an average increase of 20.53%.

2. According to data from the China Light Industry Federation, from January to February 2026, the added value of light industry above designated size in China increased by 7% year-on-year, achieving a revenue of 3.6 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.8%.

3. On March 30, 2026, the UK Trade Remedy Agency issued a notice to initiate an anti absorption review investigation into the anti-dumping measures applicable to imported excavators originating in China, in order to determine whether to maintain or adjust the current anti-dumping tariff rates. In December 2024, the UK Trade Remedy Agency decided to take temporary anti-dumping measures against Chinese excavators after investigation, and in May 2025, a final ruling was made to impose anti-dumping duties ranging from 18.81% to 40.08%.

4. The initial value of the Eurozone CPI for March increased by 2.5% year-on-year, marking the largest monthly increase since 2022. Excluding energy and food, the core CPI unexpectedly slowed down to 2.3%, and inflation in the service sector also declined.

5. European Central Bank's Managing Director Muller stated that the possibility of a rate hike in April cannot be ruled out. If energy prices remain high, it may be necessary to raise interest rates; We are closely monitoring wages and the labor market.

6. The overall CPI in Tokyo, Japan increased by 1.4% year-on-year in March, marking the lowest growth rate since March 2022; Excluding fresh food, the core CPI rose by 1.7%, lower than the expected 1.8%, further falling below the Bank of Japan's annual target of 2%.

energy

1. On March 31st, international crude oil futures closed down. The settlement price of the May WTI crude oil futures contract in the United States was $101.38 per barrel, a decrease of $1.50 or 1.5%. The settlement price of Brent crude oil futures in June was $103.97 per barrel, a decrease of $3.42 or 3.2%.

2. On March 31st, data released by the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed that as of the week ending March 27th, US crude oil inventories increased significantly by 10.26 million barrels, gasoline inventories decreased by 3.21 million barrels, and distillate inventories decreased by 1.04 million barrels.

3. On March 31st, data released by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that US crude oil production in January decreased by 410000 barrels per day from December to 13.25 million barrels per day, the lowest level since February 2025.

4. On March 30th, Kpler data showed that due to the impact of the US Israel Iran conflict, Saudi Arabia has shifted its crude oil transportation route from the Strait of Hormuz. The country's Yanbu Port's crude oil exports surged to about 4.6 million barrels per day last week, approaching its production capacity limit. The maximum export capacity is about 5 million barrels per day, and it is currently the only port in Saudi Arabia that can transport crude oil to other regions.

5. On March 30th, the Libyan National Oil Company announced that after completing the maintenance of the crude oil export pipeline connecting the Sharara oil field to the storage tanks at the Zawiya refinery, Sharara and El Feel oil fields have fully resumed oil production.

6. On March 30th, shipment schedule data showed that the average daily supply of the five North Sea crude oil grades that make up the benchmark for spot Brent crude oil in May was about 453000 barrels, a decrease from 560000 barrels in April.

7. As the energy crisis intensifies, Bangladesh has officially applied for a temporary sanction waiver from the United States to import approximately 600000 tons of Russian diesel to meet its demand for two months.

8. On March 31st, the online auction price of coking coal in Changzhi Qinyuan market fell. The starting price for low sulfur lean main coking coal A8, S0.5, and G65 is 1450 yuan/ton, with a bottom price of 45000 tons sold, a decrease of 59 yuan/ton from the previous period on the 24th. The above prices are ex factory cash inclusive of tax.

chemical industry

1. Recently, the Kalangaba lithium mine in Kanji Mountain, Bambali District, Africa, has received critical approval, covering an area of 80.4 square kilometers. The expected investment amount is between $250 million and $309 million, and mining operations are expected to commence in 2027.

2. Recently, EnergyX announced that it has invested in building a lithium processing plant at its Lonestar project located in the Smackover formation of Texas. The Lonestar demonstration plant has been put into operation and will produce approximately 250 metric tons of battery grade lithium carbonate equivalent annually, with an expected expansion to over 100000 tons per year.

3. According to the maintenance schedule of the main pipeline of Western Natural Gas Company, Inner Mongolia Dongjing Biological Environmental Protection Technology plans to conduct an annual maintenance of the BDO unit in April, with a maintenance period of 20 days.

4. On March 30th, the total shipment of diethylene glycol from the two storage areas in Zhangjiagang was 1051 tons, a decrease of 441 tons compared to the previous day. As of now, Fubao's inventory is 12500 tons, and Changjiang International releases its inventory every Monday.

5. On March 31st, Shanghai Huntsman announced a price adjustment of 30% for polyurethane and its downstream products sold in China, effective from April 1st, 2026 (or the earliest date allowed by both parties' contracts).

6. On April 1st, Lihua Yiweiyuan Chemical Co., Ltd. reported a latest price of 10300 yuan/ton for styrene, a decrease of 350 yuan/ton from the previous trading day.

7. On April 1st, Shanxi Fengxi's latest ex factory quotation for melamine was 10200 yuan/ton, an increase of 1000 yuan/ton from the previous quotation day. The factory has a production capacity of 140000 tons and a daily output of 350 tons.

rubber and plastic

1. 【 Nitrile Rubber 】 Nanjing Jinpu Yingsa Nitrile Rubber 30000 tons/year installation will be shut down for maintenance for about 10-15 days from March 26, 2026.

2. On April 1st, Sinopec Sibur Nitrile Rubber raised its listing price: the 26 series price was 22800 yuan/ton, an increase of 2000 yuan/ton.

3. On March 31st, CPC Northeast Sales Company raised the price of styrene butadiene rubber by 300 yuan/ton. Currently, Jihua 1502 is quoted at 19000 yuan/ton, and the Northeast warehouse has raised the price; Fushun 1502 reported a price of 19000 yuan/ton, and the Northeast warehouse raised the price.

4. On March 31st, the Shunding rubber market in East China experienced a decline, with merchants offering discounts of 200-300 tons. At present, Daqing, Yangtze, and Qilu Shunding are priced at 17600-17800 yuan/ton; Some private brands are priced around 17400 to 17650 yuan/ton.

5. On March 31st, the natural rubber market in Shanghai was weakly consolidated in the morning session, with merchant offers slightly lowered by around 50-100 yuan/ton. The mainstream prices for Yunbao/Guangken in 2024 were around 16300-16400 yuan/ton; 24 years ago, the mainstream price of Haibao was 16300~16450 yuan/ton; The mainstream price for 3L in Vietnam is 16550-16650 yuan/ton.

textile

1. On April 1st, the listing price of acrylonitrile at Jiangsu Silbang Petrochemical was raised by 300 yuan/ton, with a total capacity of 1.04 million tons per year.

2. On April 1st, Lihua Yilijin Refining and Chemical Co., Ltd. raised the spot price of acrylonitrile by 100 yuan/ton and implemented a factory price of 11600 yuan/ton. Its equipment has a production capacity of 260000 tons per year and is currently operating normally.

3. In March 2026, the domestic production and capacity utilization rate of acrylonitrile increased, with a capacity utilization rate of 74.88% in the acrylonitrile industry, an increase of 1.31 percentage points from the previous period and a decrease of 11.66 percentage points from the same period last year. The production during the cycle was 387000 tons, an increase of 43600 tons month on month, an increase of 12.70%, and a year-on-year increase of 9.20%. The total production capacity of acrylonitrile will remain at 5.551 million tons per year within the month.

4. Supported by the rebound in domestic prices, improvement in global demand, and the expectation of insufficient monsoon rainfall due to El Ni ñ o phenomenon, the cotton planting area in India is expected to significantly expand during the upcoming 2026 rainy season. Industry insiders predict that the growth rate can reach up to one-fifth.

steel

1. Ningxia Ningyuan New Material Technology Co., Ltd. has announced a production reduction: it will cease production of 1 * 36000KVA silicon manganese ore furnace in April.

Ningxia Canjin Ningyuda Ferroalloy Co., Ltd. has announced a production reduction of 1 * 30000KVA silicon manganese ore blast furnace in April.

Ningxia Jixin Alloy Co., Ltd. has announced a production reduction of 1 * 31500KVA silicon manganese ore furnace in April.

Pingluo Wanshun Metallurgical Chemical Co., Ltd. has issued a production reduction announcement: Xinpeng Company has suspended production of one 33000KVA silicon manganese ore furnace; Wanshun Company's 2 * 42000KVA ore blast furnace has a 30% production limit.

Inner Mongolia Baite Metallurgical Building Materials Co., Ltd. has issued a statement: Starting from the night of March 31st, it will reduce production of one 42000KVA silicon manganese alloy submerged arc furnace, which will actually affect the daily production of 300 tons of silicon manganese.

2. On March 31st, the average cost of 76 independent electric arc furnace construction steel mills was 3410 yuan/ton, an increase of 2 yuan/ton on a daily basis, with an average profit loss of 86 yuan/ton. The profit of GuDian was 21 yuan/ton.

3. 【 Stainless Steel 】 Shanghai Futures Exchange: On March 31st, the stainless steel warehouse in Guangdong Province was 11593 tons, unchanged from the previous day; The total inventory of stainless steel in Jiangsu region was 34083 tons, unchanged from the previous day; A total of 45676 tons, unchanged from the previous trading day.

colored

1. In March 2026, the silver production of medium and large-scale smelters in Henan, Hunan, Shandong and other places will increase as planned, and the refined silver production in March will increase by about 4.22% compared to February.

2. Shanghai Futures Exchange: On March 31st, the total copper inventory in Shanghai was 132303 tons, a decrease of 6249 tons from the previous day; The total copper inventory in Guangdong region is 29300 tons, a decrease of 1056 tons from the previous day; Copper inventory in Jiangsu region reached 58685 tons, a decrease of 2405 tons from the previous day; Copper inventory in Zhejiang region reached 973 tons, unchanged from the previous day; The total amount is 221261 tons, a decrease of 9710 tons from the previous day.

3. On March 31st, foreign media reported that Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. has lowered its production guidelines for its Kamoa Kakula copper complex located in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), after the mining area suffered a flooding accident last year. The current production forecast for the mine has been lowered to 290000-33000 metric tons in 2026 and 380000-4200 metric tons in 2027, both lower than previous predictions.

building materials

1. The first line of Shishou in Hanyu, Hubei (with a designed production capacity of 700 tons per day) is scheduled to undergo cold water maintenance on March 28th.

The Shahe Dejin New Fifth Line (with a designed production capacity of 900 tons/day) was ignited on March 26th and plans to produce white glass.

2. On March 31, 2026, Jiulong Paper Industry in Quanzhou, Fujian Province lowered the purchase price of waste paper by 20 yuan/ton, and the adjusted price upon arrival at the factory was 1630 yuan/ton.

3. Domtar, a leading diversified forest product manufacturer in North America, announced that it will indefinitely shut down its Coosa Pines fluff pulp plant in Alabama, USA in May 2026.

Agricultural and sideline

1. National Grain and Material Reserve Data Center: Monitoring shows that on March 27th, the commercial inventory of soybean oil in China was 860000 tons, a decrease of 20000 tons on a weekly basis, a decrease of 60000 tons on a monthly basis, and an increase of 40000 tons year-on-year.

2. According to the US Department of Agriculture's Export Inspection Weekly, the inspection volume of US corn exports last week increased by 5% compared to a week ago and 4% compared to the same period last year. As of the week of March 26, 2026, the inspection volume of US corn exports was 1789524 tons, compared to 1702651 tons last week and 1718304 tons in the same period last year.

3. Affected by the drought, AgRural has lowered the estimated total corn production in Brazil for 2025/26 by 500000 tons in its latest production forecast, from the February forecast of 136.2 million tons to 135.7 million tons.

4. The latest crop growth progress report from CONAB shows that as of March 28th, Brazil's soybean harvest progress for the year 25/26 was 74.3%, up from 67.7% last week and 81.4% in the same period last year. The flowering rate is 0.8%, the filling rate is 7.9%, the maturity rate is 16.9%, and the harvest rate is 74.3%.

5. According to the latest data from the Eurasian Economy Industry Association, as of March 30th, the total harvest of sugar beets in the Eurasian economy was 56.2 million tons, a decrease of about 3.3 million tons from the previous crushing season. Since the start of the 2025/26 sugar extraction season, the alliance has produced a total of 6.93 million tons of beet sugar, with the Russian Federation contributing the largest share, producing 6.082 million tons of sugar.

6. According to a shipping survey agency, Malaysia's palm oil exports increased by 42.6% to 56.7% month on month in March 2026. In India, a major importing country, the estimated palm oil import volume in March was 680000 tons, lower than February's 847689 tons, as high palm oil prices kept buyers on the sidelines.

7. According to data from the South Malaysia Palm Oil Association (SPPOMMA), from March 1st to 25th, 2026, the palm oil production in South Malaysia decreased by 11.21% month on month, with a 9.74% decrease in fresh fruit skewers and a 0.28% decrease in oil yield (OER).