Since July, the price of natural gas in the southeastern coastal areas has been soaring due to the impact of the international situation. At the end of August and the beginning of September, the price of natural gas in the three major production areas of Guangdong, Fujian, and Jiangxi, which have the largest ceramic tile production capacity in the country, has approached the 5 yuan/m³ mark. . Not only natural gas, but also coal prices remain high, with the highest price exceeding 1,600 yuan/ton.
On August 30, Fujian Jinjiang Ceramics Enterprise received a notice from the gas company stating that the "price" price of natural gas in September was 4.95 yuan/m³.
What is the "smooth price" price of natural gas?
In July this year, natural gas prices in the southeast region skyrocketed one after another. In August, Fujian Nan'an and Jinjiang successively issued natural gas supply reduction notices, saying that because the natural gas gap between the two places reached 900,000 m³/day, ceramic companies were required to 8-12 In September, the gas consumption was reduced by 18% based on the gas consumption in July, and the gas price remained at around 2.7 yuan/m³.
On this basis, Jinjiang proposed the second solution. The gap amount (i.e. the 18% reduction) will be implemented according to the price determined by CNOOC Fujian Company based on the "price-matching principle" of spot gas sources, of which August is 3.763 yuan/ m³ has now risen directly to 4.95 yuan/m³, which translates into an average gas price of more than 3.1 yuan/m³.
In Guangdong, the rising trend of natural gas prices is even more obvious.
The Jinli and Baitu Ceramic Industrial Parks in Gaoyao, Zhaoqing, are the ceramic parks with the highest rate of self-built gas stations in Guangdong. Ceramic companies can freely choose to use both LNG and Foran pipeline gas. "Pipeline gas rose to 3.95 yuan/m³ last month and has reached 4.3 yuan/m³ this month. LNG is now 5,980 yuan/ton, which is more than 4.4 yuan/m³ when converted." said the production manager of Jinliyi Ceramics Enterprise.
“At the beginning of the year, the gas price here was about 2.5 yuan/m³. It started to skyrocket in July. In the first half of the month, it was still 3.4 yuan/m³. Now it has risen to 3.8 yuan/m³. It looks like it will continue. The energy consumption of our medium plate production has been as low as 1.2m³ natural gas/㎡, but the daily output of the three lines of 70,000㎡ is still more than 100,000 yuan higher than the daily fuel cost at the beginning of the year. Those who make 800x800mm bricks It’s even worse.” “Ceramic Information” learned from Dinghu Beishui Industrial Park, another ceramic industrial park in Zhaoqing, that the current local gas prices are lower than those in surrounding areas.region, but it still puts pressure on companies.
Foshan natural gas price increased to 3.75 yuan/m³ from 3.15 yuan/m³ in August. "The ceramic factories in Sanshui must report their gas consumption plans every month, and the amount exceeding the plan will no longer be supplied." Industry insiders revealed that although there is currently no supply shortage in Guangdong, it has begun to tighten.
In contrast, Jiangmen Enping, which can only use LNG, endures gas prices that are much higher than other regions in the province. As early as August, the gas prices for Enping ceramic enterprises were ahead of those in other regions. It reached 4.3 yuan/m³. However, according to ceramic companies in the Puqiao Building Materials Industrial Park in Shahu Town, Enping, the gas company had planned to raise the price of natural gas to 4.8 yuan/m³ this month, but it was postponed after unanimous protests from the ceramic companies.
The gas price in Qingyuan Heyun Industrial Park, which also uses LNG as its gas source, has exceeded 4 yuan/m³, while in smaller industrial parks such as Fogang, the gas price has reached 4.45 yuan/m³.
In Jiangxi, the utilization rate of natural gas is not high, but the price of natural gas is much higher than that of neighboring Guangdong and Fujian. “The previous gas price of 4.28 yuan/m³ has increased by 6 cents, and the highest price has reached 4.88 yuan/m³. ."
The rise in natural gas is astonishing, and the "coal boom" is also equally matched. Although the utilization rate of natural gas in Jiangxi production areas is not high, the price of coal in August has exceeded 1,400 yuan/ton. Based on the calculation that one kilogram of standard coal is equivalent to 0.5m³ of standard natural gas, it is equivalent to using nearly 3 yuan/m³ of natural gas. In Guangdong, coal prices have exceeded the 1,600 yuan/ton mark.
In the visit of "Ceramic Information", most ceramic companies have become accustomed to the continuous increase in natural gas. Except for the current suspension or reduction of production in some areas where gas prices are too high and low value-added production lines, there are no available countermeasures. But compared to rising gas prices, ceramic companies are currently more worried about ceramic tile sales.
Currently, there are 12 ceramic factories and 48 production lines in the Yunlong Ceramics Industrial Base in Heyun Town, Qingyuan City. Affected by declining sales and rising prices of raw materials and natural gas, local ceramic factories have suspended production to varying degrees.
According to people familiar with the matter, most of the ceramic factories in the ceramic industry base currently have one or two production lines suspended, and a rough estimate is that about 30% of the production lines have been suspended.
"Just entering August, the sales trend of ceramic tiles was quite ideal. However, within a few days, sales slowed down. Judging from the current sales situation, compared with July, sales in August have declined More than 30%.o; said the person in charge of a local ceramics company.
In fact, not only the Qingyuan Heyun production area, but also the Puqiao Building Materials Industrial Park in Shahu Town, Enping City, is in a similar situation.
According to incomplete statistics from "Ceramic Information", a small number of ceramic factories in the ceramic industrial park have stopped production, while most have reduced production: one or two production lines have been stopped. Only a few ceramic factories have their production lines fully operational, but their output has also been reduced a lot.
With continued production, most companies have actually lost balance between production and sales, but stopping production cannot really solve the problem.
"Our factory has been closed for a while, but we must pay basic wages to workers. It is too difficult to recruit people now." A person in charge of a local enterprise said that although production has been suspended, the cost for ceramic enterprises is still high. .
"Ceramic Information" comprehensively learned that in terms of products, such as conventional products with 600x600mm and 800x800mm specifications, porcelain tiles are most affected by fuel costs and sales are the most severe. Many ceramic factories are also facing a situation of liquidation of rock slabs. On the contrary, due to thinning, the mid-plate has lower energy consumption and is less affected by fuel costs, and its sales situation is better. Products with specifications such as 600x1200mm and 750x1500mm are also relatively popular.
▲ A ceramic company in Zhaoqing, Guangdong is producing a 400×800mm medium plate production line. It is reported that the medium plate has been relatively popular since this year, and because it is thinner than other conventional products, it is less affected by fuel costs.
However, some ceramic companies with relatively stable orders and no kiln shutdowns are inevitably worried about the future. The person in charge of a production company said: "Depending on the situation, sales will not be better, and gas prices will continue to rise. This year should The kiln will be shut down for maintenance early."
(Article reproduced from Ceramic Information)
