Market Flash

Hormuz shipping remains severely disrupted with traffic down around 90% from pre-conflict levels, while limited tanker access provides only partial relief for global energy and chemical supply chains.

• Hormuz Strait
• Chemical Logistics
• LPG Supply
• Energy Market
• Global Supply Chain

South Korea’s first Arctic commercial shipping test highlights growing efforts among Asian exporters to diversify Asia-Europe logistics routes and strengthen supply chain resilience.

• Arctic Shipping
• Chemical Logistics
• Asia Europe Trade
• Supply Chain Resilience
• Global Trade

In the first half of 2026, the Strait of Hormuz blockade disrupted Middle East crude exports, driving oil prices up sharply. Domestic coal prices rose more slowly, widening the cost advantage of coal-based chemical routes and boosting company profits. Baofeng Energy's net profit jumped 70.14% to RMB 9.728 billion, while Chengzhi Holdings saw a staggering 1,416.23% profit surge. The oil-coal price spread is the key driver; with Brent above USD 80 per barrel, coal-to-olefins' breakeven of USD 45–5

• CoalChemical
• FineChemicals

The FDA approved Lantheus’ TAUKLARIFY on August 14 as an F18-labeled PET imaging agent for identifying Alzheimer’s-associated tau neurofibrillary tangle pathology, expanding the growing molecular-diagnostics toolkit for neurodegenerative disease.

• Lantheus TAUKLARIFY
• Alzheimers Disease
• Tau PET Imaging
• Radiopharmaceuticals
• FDA Approval

The FDA granted accelerated approval to Bristol Myers Squibb’s ZENBEXUS on August 13, making iberdomide the first approved CELMoD therapy and authorizing its use with daratumumab and dexamethasone for previously treated multiple myeloma.

• BMS ZENBEXUS
• Iberdomide CELMoD
• Multiple Myeloma
• Targeted Protein Degradation
• FDA Accelerated Approval

Baolijia, BATF and Wanhua Chemical have raised waterborne acrylic emulsion prices by 5%–15% as surging butyl acrylate, MMA and other monomer costs begin to transmit upstream petrochemical inflation into China’s coatings, waterproofing and adhesives sectors.

• Acrylic Emulsion Prices
• Waterborne Coatings
• Butyl Acrylate
• China Chemical Market
• Coatings Raw Materials

BASF is increasing European NPG prices by €250 per tonne and HDO prices by €300 per tonne from August 12, citing global supply-demand conditions and rising raw-material costs.

• BASF Price Increase
• Neopentyl Glycol
• Hexanediol Market
• Chemical Intermediates
• Europe Chemical Prices

SIBUR’s ZapSibNeftekhim complex in Tobolsk has been shut indefinitely after an August 10 drone attack, disrupting a site associated with roughly 40% of Russia’s LPG output and major polyethylene and polypropylene production.

• SIBUR ZapSibNeftekhim
• Russia LPG Supply
• Petrochemical Shutdown
• Polyolefin Supply
• Energy Infrastructure

Between August 8 and 11, five drone strikes hit Libya’s Zawiya Refinery, damaging storage tanks and a blending plant. Attacks ignited major fires, including one that destroyed a 4.5-million-liter gasoline tank. Libya’s National Oil Corporation warned it may declare force majeure and halt operations if attacks continue. The refinery, processing 120,000 barrels daily, is vital for domestic fuel and Mediterranean naphtha supply. With no group claiming responsibility, the strikes threaten to worsen

• Libya
• Refinery
• FineChemicals

India is accelerating efforts to complete its polycarbonate (PC) industry chain, a shift that will impact the export advantages long enjoyed by Chinese companies in both the Indian market and third-country markets. On August 4, Deepak Chem Tech, a subsidiary of Indian chemical firm Deepak Nitrite, received approval to invest approximately ₹25 billion (about $262 million) to build a 240,000-tonne-per-year bisphenol A (BPA) production unit and supporting facilities in Gujarat. Deepak Nitrite had a

• PC
• polycarbonate
• India
• China
• bisphenolA
• BPA
• FineChemicals

Wanhua Chemical’s 1.1 million-tonne-per-year Yantai MDI unit entered a scheduled 45-day maintenance shutdown on August 10, temporarily removing major capacity from the market and potentially tightening Asian spot supply.

• Wanhua Chemical
• MDI Market
• Polyurethane Industry
• Plant Maintenance
• Asia Chemical Supply

Wanhua Chemical’s US unit has agreed to pay $7.75 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging MDI/TDI price-fixing, pending court approval. This follows settlements by BASF ($3 million) and Covestro LLC ($7 million), bringing total payouts to $17.75 million. The litigation began in 2018, with plaintiffs accusing major producers of manipulating supply. While parent companies were dismissed on jurisdictional grounds, US subsidiaries continued defending. Dow and Huntsman remain defendants. Se

• WanhuaChemical
• MDI
• TDI

Mitsubishi Chemical is transferring its entire 60% stake in Taiwan’s 105,000-tonne-per-year KMC MMA business to CPDC as rapid Chinese capacity growth intensifies competition and reshapes Asian production networks.

• Mitsubishi Chemical
• MMA Monomer
• Taiwan Chemical Industry
• Capacity Restructuring
• Asian MMA Market

European petrochemical producers are accelerating the closure of aging cracker assets as regional competitiveness wanes. TotalEnergies will shutter its 550,000 mt/year Antwerp ethylene cracker by end-2027, citing expiring supply contracts and market headwinds. Dow plans to permanently close its Böhlen, Germany, cracker and associated units in Q4 2027, alongside its Barry, UK, silicone plant. Shell is reviewing its European portfolio, targeting shutdowns of two crackers in the Netherlands and UK.

• TotalEnergies
• Dow
• Shell
• EuropeanPetrochemicals
• FineChemicals

Rhine water levels are approaching historic lows, sharply reducing barge capacity and raising freight costs while exposing BASF, Covestro and Evonik to feedstock delays and potential production constraints.

• Rhine River Drought
• German Chemical Logistics
• BASF Ludwigshafen
• Chemical Supply Chain
• Low Water Risk

Chemical producers across Europe, Asia and the United States are permanently removing aging and high-cost capacity as the industry shifts from broad expansion toward consolidation and regional restructuring.

• Chemical Plant Closures
• Capacity Rationalization
• European Chemicals
• Petrochemical Restructuring
• Global Chemical Industry

A wave of refinery disruptions in the Middle East and Russia has shifted the market’s concern from crude scarcity to insufficient processing capacity, sending Europe’s diesel crack spread to a record USD 74.66 per barrel.

• Diesel Crack Spread
• European Fuel Market
• Refinery Disruptions
• Global Diesel Supply
• Energy Feedstocks

A Ukrainian drone strike forced a crude-processing unit offline at Russia’s 260,000-barrel-per-day Perm refinery, intensifying pressure on Russian domestic fuel availability and the wider global diesel market.

• Perm Oil Refinery
• Ukraine Drone Strike
• Russian Refining
• Diesel Supply
• Energy Geopolitics

Wanhua’s reported USD 200-per-ton increase signals tighter polyurethane feedstock conditions in Southeast Asia, although weak downstream margins may limit the rise in actual transaction prices.

• anhua Chemical
• MDI Price Increase
• TDI Price Increase
• Southeast Asia
• Polyurethane Market

The latest strike on the Ryazan refinery could deepen pressure on Russia’s domestic fuel system, although the damaged units and actual production loss have yet to be confirmed.

• Ryazan Oil Refinery
• Ukraine Drone Strike
• Russian Fuel Supply
• Energy Infrastructure
• Refining Market