Market Flash

Although 2026 has only just passed its first third, global chemical trade has already undergone major shifts due to dense export controls.

Congo miners are cutting chemical use, showing the Middle East conflict is now disrupting the copper-cobalt and battery supply chain.

Europe’s chemical sector faces weak Q1 earnings as war-driven cost pressure collides with weak demand and fading competitiveness.

Market reports indicate that China has announced a comprehensive restriction on exports of by-product sulfuric acid starting May 1, 2026.

• Sulfuric Acid
• china
• Export

After a first-quarter surge, with TMA up 220% and imported PG up nearly 190%, 200+ firms stopped quoting in April.

Amazon is using kiosks and same-day delivery to make Lilly’s new weight-loss pill easier to access.

China’s lycopene consultation could move more health foods from registration into a faster filing-based pathway.

March 2026 showed how food regulation is speeding up across major markets at the same time.

Brazil’s new supplement rule updates ingredients, limits, claims, and labels in one sweeping regulatory move.

Japan’s revised standards for zinc gluconate and sulfites reinforce how tightly additive use is controlled.

India’s tariff cuts could trim agrochemical input costs by up to 9% and improve manufacturing economics.

High fertilizer and fuel costs are starting to alter rice planting decisions and could tighten export supply next season.

On April 8, 2026, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced its final affirmative determination in the anti-dumping investigation on imports of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) from China.

• MDI
• anti-dumping
• China
• U.S.

U.S. chemical producers are benefiting from cheap ethane, but higher plastic prices are pushing new cost pressure downstream.

On April 4, Sekisui Specialty Chemicals announced that it will further increase the prices of its Selvol® polyvinyl alcohol, Selvol Ultiloc®, Selvol Ultalux®, and Selvol Premiol® product lines.

• Sekisui Specialty Chemicals

Titanium dioxide’s three consecutive March price hikes are essentially a cost reassessment driven by soaring sulfur and sulfuric acid, low inventories, and improved exports.

Middle East-driven oil and feedstock inflation is speeding up cost pass-through in coatings, with 20+ firms raising prices.

Brazil expanded chemical tax relief while India’s crop protection industry warned that input costs could rise 25%, showing the Middle East conflict is spreading from oil prices into industrial policy and agricultural security.

In March 2026, China’s titanium dioxide market experienced a historic wave of price increases. Within just one month, at least 25 titanium dioxide producers issued three consecutive price adjustment notices.

• Titanium Dioxide