The main plastic futures contract on Dalian Commodity Exchange rose by over 2%, to 8,347 yuan/ton. The main bottle chip futures contract on Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange surged by 6%, to 8,886 yuan/ton.

Mitsui Chemicals, Idemitsu Kosan, and Sumitomo Chemical entered into a basic agreement on September 10, 2025. The three companies plan to integrate the polyolefin (PO) business operated by Prime Polymer Co., Ltd. (“PRM”), a joint venture between Mitsui Chemicals and Idemitsu Kosan, with Sumitomo Chemical’s domestic polypropylene (PP) and linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) businesses. On April 24, 2026, the involved companies officially received notification from the Japan Fair Trade Commission confirming that it would not issue a cease-and-desist order regarding this integration, thereby formally approving the transaction.

On April 26, the handover ceremony of the 550,000 tons/year polypropylene unit of the Fujian Sino-Saudi Gulei Ethylene Project was grandly held. It is reported that the Fujian Sino-Saudi Gulei Ethylene Project is the largest single investment Sino-foreign joint venture project in Fujian Province so far, and it is also a key benchmark project for deepening the capacity and investment cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia. The project is of great significance for promoting the upgrading of China's petrochemical industry and perfecting the regional industrial chain layout.

On the evening of April 22, Wanhua Chemical announced that, in accordance with the production process characteristics of chemical enterprises and to ensure the safe and efficient operation of production facilities, the company’s Penglai Industrial Park 900,000-ton-per-year PDH unit and 600,000-ton-per-year POCHP unit will be shut down for maintenance starting April 26, 2026, with an estimated maintenance duration of approximately 30 days, as per the annual maintenance plan.

  April 22 News: PVC prices in Hangzhou remained firm, with intra-day prices slightly higher; however, actual inquiries were muted. Calcium carbide-based Grade V PVC was priced at RMB 4,900–5,050 per ton; Sanlian at RMB 4,900–4,950 per ton; Yihua/Tianhu/Zhongtai/Jintai at RMB 4,930–5,000 per ton; Beiyuan/Tianye at approximately RMB 5,000–5,050 per ton; and Grades VIII/III at approximately RMB 5,180–5,380 per ton.

On April 20, Wanhua Chemical released its 2025 Annual Report and the First-Quarter Financial Report for 2026. The first quarter of 2026 witnessed significant growth: revenue reached RMB 54.052 billion, a substantial year-on-year increase of 25.50%, setting a new record; net profit attributable to shareholders amounted to RMB 3.718 billion, up 20.62% year-on-year. Specifically, revenue from polyurethane products totaled RMB 19.294 billion; revenue from petrochemical products and trading reached RMB 20.506 billion; and revenue from fine chemicals and new materials products amounted to RMB 10.345 billion.

On April 20, at the media day of CHINAPLAS 2026 International Plastics Exhibition, Bao Lewei, Senior Vice President of Basf Asia-Pacific Specialty Materials, stated that Asia-Pacific remains the growth engine of the global plastics industry. He pointed out that in 2025, the Asia-Pacific region will account for 46%-55% of global plastics market revenue and production.

Recently, the Beijing Electron Positron Collider (BEPC) project, constructed by the Shanghai Engineering Company, has...Shanghai Sinopec's 420,000-ton-per-year polystyrene expansion project successfully produces qualified products., the entire process is connected, achieving a one-time successful start-up of the facility. The project constructs a new line1.2 million tons per year general-purpose polystyrene (GPPS) production line (line 34), using BP/ABB Lummus (INOES) process technology, relying on the existing utility facilities of SECCO, the product grades will be consistent with the existing Line 31, Line 32, and Line 33.

Chengzhi Co., Ltd. announced that, focusing on its existing core business, it plans to extend its chemical new materials industrial chain. Through Nanjing Chengzhi Clean Energy Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary, and Nanjing Chengzhi New Materials Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the former, the Company will invest in the construction of an ethylene value-chain extension project (60,000 tons/year of n-propanol and 200,000 tons/year of methyl methacrylate (MMA)) and a high-end optical new materials project (100,000 tons/year of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)) at the Nanjing Jiangbei New Area New Materials Science Park. The total investment for the project amounts to approximately RMB 3.901 billion.

The South Korean government announced that from April 15 to June 30, it will implement anti-hoarding measures for seven key petrochemical raw materials, including ethylene, propylene, butadiene, benzene, toluene, and xylene. The inventory of relevant enterprises shall not exceed 180% of the level in the same period last year. The introduction of this emergency control measure marks that the impact of the Middle East geopolitical conflict on the global chemical supply chain has escalated from price fluctuations to the stability of the supply chain.

Oriental FortuneOn April 15, the company stated on the investor interaction platform that it currently possesses an EVA production capacity of 900,000 tons per year and a POE production capacity of 100,000 tons per year. Both its production scale and product quality rank among the industry’s leaders, enabling it to provide downstream photovoltaic customers with “one-stop” services. It is one of the very few leading domestic enterprises possessing independent R&D capabilities and large-scale production facilities for both core raw materials used in photovoltaic encapsulant films. Furthermore, the company has achieved comprehensive vertical integration across its upstream and downstream industrial chain: supporting production facilities for key raw materials—such as ethylene, vinyl acetate, and high-carbon alpha-olefins—required for EVA and POE manufacturing have all been established, allowing for self-sufficient raw material supply. In recent years, the company’s EVA products have received the “Innovative Chemical New Material” award and the “Second Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress” from the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation. Applications in downstream sectors are linked to the commercialization progress of various downstream photovoltaic enterprises.

Exciting news has emerged from the site of China Chemical’s Western New Materials Company’s 20,000-ton-per-year ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) project: the facility has successfully commenced feedstock trial operation, marking the large-scale industrial application of China Chemical’s independently developed, proprietary batch-type slurry polymerization process in autoclaves, thus injecting strong impetus into China’s high-end new materials industry.

  April 14 report, since the beginning of April, the polypropylene market has shown a narrow fluctuation trend. Except for April 7-8, when the market experienced a wide upward movement followed by a sharp decline due to geopolitical news, the fluctuation range has significantly narrowed in other periods, with prices often remaining stable. On April 10, the price of LSR in East China was 9175 yuan/ton, an increase of 1.66% from the beginning of the month. The temporary ceasefire between the US and Iran and the start of negotiations have made geopolitical news gradually stabilize, and the impact on the spot market has weakened. The market's influencing factors have gradually returned to the fundamentals. From the supply and demand perspective, the shutdown of polypropylene production facilities remains frequent, and the tight supply of raw materials has not changed, with the tightened supply still providing strong support for the spot market. However, the weak profitability of downstream sectors and insufficient new orders have led to weak demand for essential purchases, providing limited support to the polypropylene market. In the short term, it is expected that the polypropylene market will remain stable at a high level, with limited significant changes in the market.

Sinopec stated on its interactive platform in response to investor inquiries that it expects the release of new domestic chemical production capacity to continue this year, resulting in persistent structural oversupply pressure. Coupled with the sharp rise in oil and naphtha prices triggered by the Middle East geopolitical conflict, chemical gross profit margins are under significant pressure. The company will closely monitor both domestic and international market conditions, dynamically optimize production, operation arrangements, and sales strategies, intensify efforts to expand domestic and overseas markets, and strive to enhance the quality of its chemical business development.

Institutional statistics show that the global polyethylene capacity growth is expected to be more than twice the demand growth. Until 2030, polyethylene demand growth is about 3.3 million tons per year, while the average capacity growth is 6.7 million tons per year. The growth in 2026 and 2027 may be particularly strong. Of the 34 million tons per year of reserve capacity by 2030, about 85% is under construction, mainly large steam cracking units supported by major oil and chemical companies. This surge in supply will drive a restructuring of the global polyethylene market. New, lower-cost large facilities will replace less competitive older assets. Starting from 2026, the pace of capacity closures in Europe and developed East Asia (including Japan and South Korea) will accelerate.

Global energy and chemical market information provider ICIS recently reported that, due to tensions in the Middle East, the Korea Federation of Plastic Industry Cooperatives (KFPIC) has called on its member companies to propose contingency plans to stabilize the continuously rising costs of raw materials. The federation comprises large, medium, and small enterprises engaged in synthetic resin processing and plastic product manufacturing in Korea, including members such as LG Chem and Lotte Chemical.

China Chemical responded to investor inquiries on the interactive platform, stating that the company's aerogel and phase change material production businesses are developing well and are currently in normal shipment. The production of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene is not yet in operation. Its subsidiary, Hualu Company, possesses full-process technology and engineering capabilities for producing high-purity silicon (polysilicon) materials, making it the most technically comprehensive engineering company in this field with the highest market share in China. It is known as the "hidden champion" of the photovoltaic industry. The company supports the localization of upstream materials through its engineering capabilities, but has not yet engaged in the production of high-purity silicon (polysilicon).

“Affected by current international geopolitical events, international energy prices have experienced significant volatility, and expectations for price increases of related domestic products have intensified,” said Gao Shigang, Executive Director, Deputy Party Secretary, and President of China Coal Energy (601898), at the company’s earnings briefing. He stated that the company’s overall performance is expected to remain stable. He further projected that China’s coal market supply-demand balance may shift toward a tight equilibrium by 2026; the long-term contract mechanism for power coal supply security will continue to serve as a “ballast,” and spot coal prices are likely to trend upward overall, albeit with heightened range-based volatility.

On April 3, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and six other departments jointly issued the “Action Plan for Accelerating the Retrofit and Upgrading of Aging Facilities in the Petrochemical and Chemical Industry (2026–2029).” The plan specifies that, when evaluating the layout of major petrochemical projects, priority support shall be given to retrofit and upgrading projects for aging facilities in refining, ethylene, para-xylene (PX), methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), and coal-to-methanol production. Provincial departments of industry and information technology shall, in coordination with relevant provincial departments, establish and improve a “green channel,” strengthen factor guarantees, and streamline approval procedures—including project filing (or approval), environmental impact assessment, land use, water withdrawal, energy conservation review, carbon emission evaluation, and safety permits—to enhance review and approval efficiency and accelerate project implementation.

The main contract of Styrene (EB) rose 304.00 yuan during the day, now quoted at 10,435.00 yuan/ton, with a 3.00% increase.