On March 13, the main contract of polypropylene rose 2% on the day, now at 8660.00 yuan.

On March 13, the main continuous styrene futures contract fell 3% intraday, now quoted at 9981.00 yuan.

Recently, Fujian Gulai Petrochemical Co., Ltd. officially announced the launch of its first full-plant shutdown maintenance since the company’s establishment, scheduled from March 9 to April 30, lasting a total of 53 days. This major maintenance is a key project for the opening year of the “15th Five-Year Plan,” having undergone nearly two years of preparation. It proceeds with the five core objectives of zero safety incidents, zero environmental pollution, zero quality defects, zero schedule delays, and zero integrity risks. The scope covers all nine core production units—including ethylene cracking, styrene, ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol (EO/EG), polypropylene (PP), and ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA)—and concurrently includes equipment defect elimination, catalyst replacement, process optimization, and hazard remediation, thereby laying a solid foundation for the safe, stable, long-term, full-capacity, and optimal operation of the facilities.

The midday closing of the domestic futures main contracts showed mixed performance. Caustic soda, Container Freight Index Europe, and PET all rose more than 7%, while PVC, butadiene rubber, and paraxylene rose more than 5%. On the downside, SC crude oil fell more than 9%, lithium carbonate fell more than 5%, and fuel oil fell more than 4%.

On March 6, an investor asked Lianhong New Materials whether the company has technological reserves or related products for plastic thermoelectric films. In response, Lianhong New Materials replied on the investor interaction platform on March 10 that the matrix material used in plastic thermoelectric films is film-grade polypropylene, which is not entirely identical to the company’s existing polypropylene products.

Domestic futures market opened, with the energy and chemical sector surging—container shipping futures hit the daily limit-up of 20%; crude oil, fuel oil, bitumen, urea, caustic soda, and polyethylene also hit the daily limit-up. Coking coal and alumina rose over 6%. On the downside, lithium carbonate fell over 7%, while palladium and platinum dropped over 5%.

The resumption ceremony for the 300,000-ton-per-year EVA unit—part of PetroChina Dushanzi Petrochemical Company’s Tarim 1.2-million-ton-per-year Phase II Ethylene Project’s supporting green and low-carbon demonstration project—was held on-site at the EVA unit, marking the official acceleration of construction for this key high-end new materials project in the refining and chemical industry. To date, all public and utility facilities for the Tarim Phase II Ethylene Project have been fully commissioned; major production units—including ethylene and polypropylene plants—have successfully achieved mechanical completion, and overall construction is progressing steadily, laying a solid foundation for successful first-feed commissioning. The resuming 300,000-ton-per-year EVA unit is the only critical unit within the Tarim Phase II Ethylene Project utilizing imported process technology. Characterized by high temperature and high pressure, an extended construction timeline, and stringent installation precision requirements, it is regarded as the “toughest challenge” that must be overcome in this year’s project.

At the morning session closing, domestic futures main contracts saw more gains than losses: SC crude oil rose nearly 13%, containerized freight rates for the Europe route surged nearly 8%, pure benzene and styrene hit the daily trading limit-up, caustic soda, fuel oil, and synthetic rubber rose over 6%, PX gained nearly 6%, PTA rose over 5%, lithium carbonate climbed nearly 5%, and apples and PET chips rose nearly 4%. On the downside, methanol, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and coking coal each fell nearly 1%.

The Dalian Commodity Exchange's polypropylene main contract rose more than 2%, closing at RMB 7,568 per ton. The Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange's paraxylene main contract surged 5%, closing at RMB 8,466 per ton.

According to Wanhua Chemical (600309), Wanhua Chemical has successfully developed a new generation of PVC weather-resistant material through in-depth research on the micro-mechanisms of materials. This innovation effectively addresses the industry challenges of traditional PVC flooring fading and aging under sunlight, significantly enhancing the color durability and luster stability of the flooring's decorative layer.

According to Jilin Petrochemical's Production Operations Department, the company produced 262,000 tons of ethylene in the first two months, an increase of 112.08% year-on-year, setting a new historical record for ethylene output.

Shanghai Petrochemical Co., Ltd. announced that Inner Mongolia Xinsanjin Carbon Fiber Co., Ltd. has successfully completed a public equity financing round. This round attracted several strategic investors, including Sinopec Corporation, Uxin Banner State-owned Investment Group Co., Ltd., Dongfang Wind Power Co., Ltd., and China Construction Bank Investment Co., Ltd., collectively injecting RMB 600 million in newly registered capital. Among them, Sinopec Corporation subscribed to RMB 300 million of the newly issued registered capital and, upon completion of the, will hold a 25% equity stake in the carbon fiber company. The remaining RMB 300 million of newly issued registered capital was subscribed to by other strategic investors, including Uxin Banner State-owned Investment Group Co., Ltd., Dongfang Wind Power Co., Ltd., and China Construction Bank Investment Co., Ltd. Following this capital increase, the carbon fiber company’s registered capital increased from RMB 600 million to RMB 1.2 billion, and Shanghai Petrochemical Co., Ltd.’s equity stake in the carbon fiber company was diluted from 100% to 50%.

Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the 2025 National Green Manufacturing List. Shenghong Petrochemical Industry Group’s subsidiary, Shenghong Refining & Chemical (Lianyungang) Co., Ltd., was awarded the national "Green Factory" title in recognition of its outstanding practices in green manufacturing, adding another distinguished "green credential" to the company's high-quality development portfolio.

The Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange's propylene main contract surged 5%, closing at RMB 6,530 per ton. The Dalian Commodity Exchange's polyethylene main contract rose over 4%, closing at RMB 6,860 per ton.

Today during trading, PetroChina (601857.SH) saw its market capitalization rise by over RMB 2 trillion, hitting a near 11-year high. Its intraday market capitalization of over RMB 2 trillion exceeded the combined market capitalizations of the other two “oil giants”—Sinopec (600028.SH) and CNOOC (600938.SH).

Honeywell announced that it has signed an amended agreement to acquire Johnson Matthey's Catalyst Technologies business.Pursuant to the revised terms, the total transaction consideration has been adjusted from £1.8 billion to £1.325 billion, and the transaction closing date has been extended to 21 July 2026. If regulatory approvals are not obtained by the aforementioned closing date, the closing date may be further extended to 21 August 2026, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions.

BASF's newly launched injection molding grade high-density polyethylene product, Easiplas® HDPE IL 8008, has been successfully delivered to customers. On February 26, 2026, the first batch of the product was officially shipped from BASF's Zhanjiang Integrated Site. This marks a key milestone in the commercialization of the product and signifies a substantial breakthrough in BASF's strategic positioning in the high-end injection molding materials market in China.

On February 26, India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry initiated an anti-subsidy duty investigation on imports of “polyvinyl chloride (PVC) suspension resin” originating from or exported from China. Three Indian domestic PVC producers—Chemplast, DCM Shriram, and DCW—jointly alleged that Chinese products were being sold at artificially low prices due to government subsidies, thereby causing injury to the Indian industry. In response, the Indian authorities launched the investigation and recommended that the Ministry of Finance impose a “provisional assessment” (i.e., collect duties upfront pending the outcome of the investigation) on all Chinese PVC imports.

According to South Korean media, the South Korean government announced on February 25 that it would provide 2.1 trillion won (approximately 10 billion yuan) in financial and tax support for the restructuring project of Lotte Chemical and HD Hyundai Chemical in the Dangjin Industrial Complex. This is the first restructuring project approved under South Korea's large-scale self-rescue plan for the petrochemical industry. According to the restructuring plan, Lotte Chemical will spin off its Dangsan plant in Chungcheongnam Province and merge it with HD Hyundai Chemical to establish a new entity. Both companies will inject 600 billion won each into the new company. Lotte Chemical's naphtha cracking facility in Dangjin will be shut down, with an ethylene production capacity of 1.1 million tons per year. Other facilities operated by the two companies that have redundant construction or are experiencing losses will also be suspended.

Bohai Chemical announced on February 25 that part of its acrylic ester and super absorbent polymer new materials project has met the conditions for production, and officially started feeding materials on February 24, 2026. The project is implemented by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Tianjin Bohai Petrochemical Co., Ltd., marking the company's transition from a single propylene product to a multi-product field in high-performance new materials. Since the entire project is still under construction, and the market is subject to uncertainty, there may be risks such as fluctuations in raw material prices and intensified competition, which could affect the project's expected performance.