China’s Flange Market Snapshot (Latest Two Months)
1. Price Movement
- Late July: Both wind-power and petrochemical flanges saw a sharp rally—wind-power index +1.9 % MoM (+21.1 % YoY), petrochemical index +19.0 % MoM (+2.1 % YoY).
- Early August: Prices reversed downward—wind-power ‑1.2 % MoM, petrochemical ‑16.7 % MoM. Net result over July-August is an inverted-V: wind-power still ~11 % above last year, petrochemical now ~18 % below.
2. Sales Volume
- Wind-power flanges: 14,846 t in late July (+32.8 % MoM, +65.8 % YoY); dropped to 11,631 t in early August (-21.7 % MoM) yet up 17 % YoY.
- Construction-machinery flanges: 1,571 t in late July (+74.0 % MoM), then fell 42.7 % in early August—essentially back to June levels.
- Petrochemical flanges: 3,687 t in late July (+35.8 % MoM), down to 3,010 t in early August (-18.4 % MoM) but still +12.9 % YoY.
3. Demand Drivers
- July’s surge was fueled by wind-turbine rush orders and concentrated restocking of billet & iron-ore feedstock.
- August saw slower project financing plus retreating steel prices, prompting buyers to step back.
- Petrochemical demand remains relatively resilient thanks to new refinery-chemical projects, though high price volatility is causing intermittent purchasing pauses.
Bottom Line
A brief July “mini-boom” has given way to a synchronized pullback in both price and volume, indicating that underlying demand is still largely driven by episodic restocking rather than sustained expansion.
