Industry News

This section contains information and comments on China´s chemical industry, as posted from January 2026 onwards. Entries are not revised later. For older entries, see separate sections. For daily updates, please join the LinkedIn group "News and Trends in China´s Chemical Industry".---

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Jan 17, 2026: Eastmoney Securities argues that the global chemical industry is experiencing a "rise in the East and fall in the West".

Comment MCC: In addition, the company argues that the current bad shape of the Chinese chemical industry offers plenty of upside but limited downside. Of course, this is also just a sales pitch for chemical ETFs

https://guba.eastmoney.com/news,sz159870,1653524447.html

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Jan 16, 2026: China Merchants Securities believes that some outdated production capacity in China will be eliminated.

Comment MCC: As a result, they expect that the overall supply and demand pattern of the industry will see marginal improvement, and product profitability will increase.

https://www.stcn.com/article/detail/3593780.html

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Jan 15, 2026: China launched an anti-dumping probe into dichlorosilane imports from Japan.

Comment MCC: Probably mostly an action to be seen as part of the current conflict between the two countries rather than an isolated trade issue. In addition, as dichlorosilane is used in chipmaking, China presumably wants to demonstrate and improve its independence on imports.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/china-launches-anti-dumping-p...

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Jan 14, 2026: Echemi reports on the insolvency of three subsidiaries of Domo Chemicals.

Comment MCC: The rationale provided is that nylon produced by Domo is not cost-competitive with Chinese production due to high environmental standards and high energy costs, resulting in the following: "While Chinese peers produce nylon 6 at $800 per ton, Domo's cost likely exceeds $1,300-yet the market sells for only $1,100."

https://www.echemi.com/cms/2787555.html

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Jan 13, 2026: According to Xinhua, a Chinese industrial demonstration project can decompose hydrogen sulfide into high-purity hydrogen and sulfur.

Comment MCC: The project is capable of processing 100,000 cubic meters of H2S annually, indicating the limits of the demonstration project, as this is less than 400 kg per day, and only a very small share of the over 8 billion cubic meters of H2S processed annually in China. So, the technology needs to be upscaled successfully before having any true value.

https://english.news.cn/20260106/9f5a990ecc224c828d0e7833e4352539/c.html

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Jan 12, 2026: Chinese Capchem Technology plans to invest USD260 million in building a lithium-ion battery electrolyte solvent plant in Saudi Arabia and to increase production capacity of its electrolyte plant in Poland.

Comment MCC: The rationale provided by Capchem is the internationalization of its production and supply chain. The investment may also be well-aligned with Saudi Arabia's objective of becoming a major player in sustainable energy sources such as solar.

https://www.yicaiglobal.com/news/chinas-capchem-to-build-lithium-battery...

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Jan 11, 2026: Emissions of volatile chemical products in China mostly result from coatings and adhesives, coming both from industrial sources (two-thirds) and domestic ones (one-third).

Comment MCC: The study also found that emissions have different characteristics than in the US, containing more aromatic and nitrogen/sulfur compounds.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025JD044698?af=R

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Jan 10, 2026: BASF expects that around 80% of chemical industry growth to 20235 will be in the APAC region.

Comment MCC: This is mainly a justification for the massive investment of BASF in China, as BASF currently only achieves about 13% of its sales in China, an underrepresentation compared to the US and Europe.

https://www.marketscreener.com/news/risk-in-china-basf-invests-billions-...

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Jan 09, 2026: In the first 10 months of 2025, profits of Chinese chemical companies dropped by 5.4% compared to the same period in 2024.

Comment MCC: According to an analyst from Cinde, overcapacity and low demand are the main reasons, and both are likely to persist despite China's anti-involution policy

https://cen.acs.org/business/Chinas-chemical-makers-face-headwinds/104/w...

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Jan 08, 2026: Clariant anticipates more production shifting away from Europe

Comment MCC: Specifically, the company expects more than half its sales growth in the next 5 years to come from China.

https://cen.acs.org/business/economy/Europe-lights-chemical-plants/104/w...

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Jan 07, 2026: Wanhua recently issued an alert about counterfeited versions of its branded polycarbonate, sold at lower prices but with much inferior properties.

Comment MCC: In some way, this nicely illustrates the rise of Wanhua from a low-end chemical producer to a top-tier chemical company.

https://www.echemi.com/cms/2781516.html

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Jan 06, 2026: Stock prices of several Indian chemical companies are down by up to 49% from their 52-week highs. Companies affected include Neogen Chemicals, Clean Science and Technology, Balaji Amines, and Sudarshan Chemical Industries.

Comment MCC: Among the reasons given for the decline is the market entry of lower-priced imports from China, driven by overcapacity.

https://www.whalesbook.com/news/English/Chemicals/Chemical-Stocks-in-Fre...

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Jan 05, 2026: China's first million-ton-level "near-zero" carbon steel production line went operational in Zhanjiang, Guangdong

Comment MCC: The plant utilizes hydrogen instead of coke to produce steel from scrap. However, the "near-zero" claim for carbon dioxide reduction is somewhat rejected in the post itself, which states that "Compared to conventional steel production lines, the project is projected to achieve a carbon reduction of 50 percent to 80 percent."

http://english.scio.gov.cn/in-depth/2025-12/31/content_118254702.html

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Jan 04, 2026: A post on the website DiscoveryAlert has some figures illustrating the dominance of China in rare earths.

Comment MCC: While China "only" represents 60% of global ore concentration capacity, this increases to 90% for chemical separation, 95% for oxide purification, and 85% for magnet manufacturing.

https://discoveryalert.com.au/architecture-global-critical-materials-con...

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Jan 03, 2026: A source named Energiesmedia describes the production of green methanol by a Chinese company named Goldwind

Comment MCC: Basically, the production involves water hydrolysis to produce hydrogen, which is then reacted with captured carbon dioxide to produce methanol. This is an alternative to hydrogen that is better suited to use with existing infrastructure than hydrogen itself. However, the mentioned target capacity of about 0.5 million tons per year would still be well below 1% of China's annual methanol production and thus contribute only somewhat to the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.

https://energiesmedia.com/china-hydrogen-500000-tons-to-be-mined/

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Jan 02, 2026: Wison Engineering delivered the world's first million-ton MTO plant to its client, Guangxi Huayi Energy, in late December

Comment MCC: The largest MTO plant already in operation is at Jiangsu Sailboat with a capacity of about 833 kt,o while typical sizes are in the order of 200-600 kto.

https://www.wison-engineering.com/en/newsinfo/122.html

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Jan  01, 2026: According to SunSirs, among the chemical compounds tracked, 3 experienced a more than 5% year-on-year price increase: Silver (8.8%), Dimethyl disulfide (8.7%) and battery grade Lithium hydroxide (6.5%).

Comment MCC: Some lithium producers such as Ganfeng project 30-40% demand growth in 2026, possibly accounting for the positive price trend despite the slump earlier in the year.

https://www.sunsirs.com/uk/detail_news-29261.html

 

https://discoveryalert.com.au/chinas-lithium-price-surge-analysis-2025/