Chemicals Are Going Wild: Sulfur Surges 512%, Titanium Dioxide, Polyols and Sulfuric Acid Lose Control

The latest price rally in the chemical market is not something to laugh off.

From sulfur and sulfuric acid to titanium dioxide, polyols, TMA, diethylene glycol, methyl ethyl ketone, acrylic acid, propylene oxide and TDI, a wide range of products have surged together within just a few months. Some prices have already climbed to multi-year highs.

This is not a simple rebound in a few individual products. It is a systemic price surge driven from the upstream cost side.

The chemical market has seen sharp single-product rallies before, usually triggered by plant accidents or raw material shortages. But this time is different. The rally is not coming from one isolated point. It started from basic raw materials such as sulfur and sulfuric acid, then spread into titanium dioxide, phosphate fertilizers, sodium metabisulfite, sulfamic acid and other sulfur-related downstream products. At the same time, crude oil, naphtha, aromatics and olefins have pushed up polyols, TDI, acrylic acid, methyl ethyl ketone and other products in sequence.

In other words, this is not the story of one product. It is a systemic price storm created by upstream cost pressure.

Chemical Giants Moved First, and Market Sentiment Was Fully Ignited

In this round of price increases, the first force that truly ignited market sentiment was the pricing action of international chemical giants.

In mid-May, Stepan, a global leader in rigid polyester polyols, released a series of price increase signals. Public pricing announcements showed that Stepan issued multiple adjustments for its STEPANPOL® and TERATE® polyester polyol product lines, covering price increases in regions including North America and Europe. According to ChemNet’s report on the May 18 adjustment, Stepan announced that from July 1, 2026, prices for STEPANPOL® and TERATE® rigid polyester polyols in the Americas would rise by $0.185/lb. This was an additional increase on top of earlier price adjustments.

That signal matters.

Polyols are not isolated products. They are directly connected to polyurethane rigid foam, insulation materials, cold-chain systems, building energy efficiency, home appliances and automotive interiors. Stepan’s repeated price increases suggest that the overseas polyurethane raw material chain is already facing clear cost pressure. They also send a strong message to the market: leading producers are no longer testing price increases; they are using repeated adjustments to reset the cost floor.

Domestic titanium dioxide producers have also been moving in the same direction. Since March, China’s titanium dioxide industry has already seen several rounds of price increase notices. ECHEMI previously reported that companies including LB Group issued price adjustments in March, raising domestic prices by RMB 1,000/ton and international prices by $150/ton. By mid-May, titanium dioxide price increases had continued to spread, with some producers further lifting rutile titanium dioxide quotations.

Titanium dioxide is a very representative case. Its downstream applications cover coatings, plastics, paper, inks and other industries, with coatings being one of the largest end-use sectors. In other words, titanium dioxide price increases do not stop inside chemical plants. They continue to pass into architectural coatings, industrial coatings, automotive coatings, home decoration materials and broader manufacturing costs.

The Real Fuse Is Sulfur and Sulfuric Acid

If one only looks at titanium dioxide price increases, it is easy to misread the rally as producer-led price pushing. But once the upstream chain is broken down, the real fuse becomes clear: sulfur and sulfuric acid.

S&P Global reported in early May that global sulfur and sulfuric acid prices rose sharply in April, driven by supply disruptions in the Middle East and tighter export restrictions from China, with spot supply becoming visibly tight. The domestic market has also been under pressure. According to Cailian Press on May 9, sulfur prices continued rising during the year, with quotations reaching RMB 6,867/ton on May 8, up around 80% from the beginning of the year. Some spot prices even broke through RMB 8,000/ton.

Why is sulfur so important?

Because it is not just a simple traded commodity. It is a basic entry point for many chemical chains. Sulfur goes into sulfuric acid, and sulfuric acid then flows into titanium dioxide, phosphate fertilizers, fluorochemicals, fine chemicals and hydrometallurgy. For titanium dioxide in particular, the sulfate process is highly dependent on sulfuric acid. Once sulfuric acid prices rise, the cost base of titanium dioxide is lifted directly.

SunSirs also recently noted that titanium dioxide raw material costs have risen sharply, with port sulfur quotations staying at high levels and the average price of 98% sulfuric acid increasing significantly year-on-year. Raw material costs are already putting clear pressure on titanium dioxide producers’ margins.

This is the core logic of the current rally: downstream demand has not suddenly exploded; upstream costs have simply risen too aggressively.

When sulfur and sulfuric acid prices keep climbing, titanium dioxide producers are no longer facing the question of whether to raise prices. They are facing a survival question: if they do not raise prices, losses deepen. Some producers have reduced or suspended production, further tightening market supply and pushing prices up again.

This is a very typical cost-driven rally: raw material prices push up costs, cost pressure forces producers to raise prices, production cuts tighten supply, and supply contraction reinforces expectations of further increases.

Titanium Dioxide Is Not Rising Alone. It Is Being Pushed Up by the Whole Cost Chain

From market data, titanium dioxide’s increase may not look as dramatic as sulfur or sulfuric acid. But its industrial impact is more direct.

Based on the price range data provided, rutile titanium dioxide rose from a low of RMB 12,850/ton in November 2025 to a high of RMB 16,733/ton in May 2026, a gain of about 30.2%. For a bulk chemical cycle, that is already a meaningful increase. More importantly, it happened within a short period and came together with several rounds of concentrated producer price increase notices.

Titanium dioxide is often called the “industrial MSG” not because it has the largest volume, but because it is used so widely. Coatings, plastics, inks, paper, rubber, chemical fibers and daily chemical materials may all rely on it. Once it rises, downstream users cannot easily avoid it.

The coatings industry is under especially visible pressure. Titanium dioxide is a key contributor to hiding power and whiteness in coatings, while acrylic acid, TDI, propylene oxide and methyl ethyl ketone are also important raw materials for coatings, resins, solvents and polyurethane systems. The problem now is that downstream producers are not facing one rising raw material. They are facing several key raw materials rising at the same time.

That makes life extremely difficult for coatings companies.

If only one raw material rises, companies can still buffer the impact through formula adjustments, inventory digestion or supplier switching. But when titanium dioxide, acrylic acid, methyl ethyl ketone, TDI and propylene oxide rise together, it becomes much harder to absorb the pressure through one single measure. The price pressure will eventually pass to distributors, engineering customers, end projects and even affect quotation cycles and order delivery.

The Scariest Gains Are Not in Titanium Dioxide, But in Basic Raw Materials and Fine Intermediates

According to the price increase ranking provided, the truly alarming part of this rally is the number of products with extreme gains.

Solid sulfur rose from RMB 1,070/ton to RMB 6,550/ton, with a maximum increase of 512.1%. Sulfuric acid rose from RMB 430/ton to RMB 2,116/ton, with a maximum increase of 392%. A reducing agent rose from RMB 25,000/ton to RMB 100,000/ton, up 300%. TMA climbed from RMB 13,000/ton to RMB 43,000/ton, up 230%.

Put these numbers together, and the abnormal nature of the market becomes obvious.

In a normal chemical cycle, a 30% to 50% increase is already enough to make downstream buyers nervous. If the gain exceeds 100%, it usually means there is a clear supply-demand mismatch. But when multiple products rise by 100%, 200%, 300% or even more than 500% at the same time, the market is no longer experiencing ordinary volatility. It has entered an extreme cost repricing phase.

This round of price increases has another feature: the gains are not concentrated in just one chain.

In the sulfur-related chain, sulfur, sulfuric acid, sodium metabisulfite, sodium bisulfite and sulfamic acid have all risen significantly. In the polyurethane chain, polyester polyols, TDI and propylene oxide are under pressure. In solvents and intermediates, methyl ethyl ketone, diethylene glycol, acrylic acid, methanol and ethylene glycol have also moved upward. Aromatics-related products such as benzene and aniline have been pulled into the rally as well.

This shows that the current market is not being driven by one hot product. Instead, several raw material systems are facing higher costs and tighter supply at the same time.

Why This Rally Is Being Called “Rare in 20 Years”

The phrase “rare in 20 years” can easily sound exaggerated. But looking at the structure of this rally, it does have a real basis.

First, the coverage of price increases is rare. From basic chemical raw materials to fine intermediates and downstream materials, multiple stages are rising together. In the past, many rallies were single-chain events, such as a chlor-alkali rally, a phosphorus chemicals rally, a polyurethane rally or a titanium dioxide rally. This time, different chemical chains are resonating with one another.

Second, the speed of price increases is rare. Most products began accelerating in February and March 2026, reached highs in April, and remained at elevated levels in May. In just a few months, they completed gains that might normally take years to unfold. This has had a major impact on downstream procurement and quotation systems.

Third, the cost transmission is rare. Sulfur price increases moved into sulfuric acid, then into titanium dioxide, phosphate fertilizers and sulfur-based fine chemicals. Crude oil and naphtha fluctuations moved into aromatics, olefins and the polyurethane chain. Logistics, imports, inventories and maintenance further amplified supply pressure. This is not a one-way chain reaction. It is a multi-point squeeze.

Fourth, producer price increase behavior is more concentrated. In the past, price increase letters were often a way to test the market. This time, international giants and domestic producers are issuing adjustment notices intensively. Stepan’s additional increase and repeated titanium dioxide price hikes in China show that upstream producers are no longer willing to absorb the cost pressure alone.

Put simply, this rally is not just being “speculated up.” It is being pushed by costs, supply tightness, market sentiment and producer pricing power all at once.

Downstream Buyers Fear Uncertainty More Than High Prices

For downstream companies, price increases are painful. But uncertainty is even worse.

If prices are simply high but stable, companies can recalculate costs, adjust quotations and negotiate price increases with customers. The problem now is that many raw materials are rising too quickly. Quotation validity periods are shortening, suppliers are reluctant to sell, and downstream buyers worry that prices may rise further. As a result, procurement rhythm has been disrupted.

This creates two outcomes.

On one hand, downstream companies bring purchases forward, temporarily amplifying demand. Since March, some distributors and downstream manufacturers have clearly advanced their orders. This is not because end demand suddenly exploded. It is because buyers are afraid prices will be higher later, or that they may not be able to secure material at all.

On the other hand, once prices reach high levels, downstream buyers suddenly become cautious. By May, some orders had already returned to normal levels, showing that high prices are beginning to suppress real demand. Many companies are choosing to digest inventory, reduce high-price purchases or even postpone production plans.

That is what makes the next stage of pricing so complicated: high costs still provide support, but high prices are already starting to push back against demand.

After June, Prices May Diverge Instead of Rising Together

The market is unlikely to keep seeing all products surge together. More likely, it will enter a stage of divergence.

For basic raw materials such as sulfur and sulfuric acid, prices may remain strongly supported if supply disruptions do not ease significantly. Global sulfur supply and Middle East logistics still carry uncertainty, making a quick return to low levels difficult in the short term.

Titanium dioxide may face a more complicated situation. On one side, raw material costs such as sulfuric acid remain high, limiting producers’ room to cut prices. On the other side, downstream coatings demand has entered a high-price digestion phase, and purchasing sentiment is no longer as aggressive as it was in March and April. In other words, titanium dioxide may not be easy to push sharply higher, but it may also be difficult to fall deeply.

For polyols, TDI, acrylic acid and methyl ethyl ketone, the next move will depend on plant maintenance, inventory levels and downstream demand recovery. Some products rose too quickly earlier. If demand fails to keep up, a short-term correction cannot be ruled out. But as long as raw material and supply-side conditions do not improve clearly, any correction may be high-level consolidation rather than a trend reversal.

So the next stage may look like this: the tightest raw materials remain strong, overextended intermediates fluctuate at high levels, and downstream products with weaker demand begin to feel pressure.

This Price Surge Will Accelerate Industry Reshuffling

Over a longer cycle, this rally is not only a short-term price event. It may also reshape industry competition.

For leading companies, a high-cost environment can actually create opportunities. Large producers usually have more stable raw material channels, stronger inventory management, better customer bargaining power and a greater ability to pass costs through exports, high-end applications and product differentiation.

For small and mid-sized companies, however, the pressure can be severe. When raw material prices rise, their procurement costs are higher. When supply is tight, they often stand further back in the queue. When downstream customers push back on prices, they have limited bargaining power. With rising costs, unstable orders and tighter cash flow, some companies may be forced to cut production, suspend operations or even exit the market.

The titanium dioxide industry is a typical example. In recent years, the sector has faced capacity expansion and price competition. This round of cost-driven price increases may accelerate the exit of inefficient capacity. Companies that can move into high-end coatings, photovoltaics, wind power, engineering plastics and other upgraded applications will have more room to survive. Those relying only on low-price general-purpose products will face a tougher future.

That is why this rally should not be viewed only as “price increases.” Behind it is an industry stress test: who can secure raw materials, who can stabilize customers, and who can pass on costs will be the ones that survive more steadily.

The Chemical Market Is Repricing “Cost Security”

The most important part of this chemical price surge is not any single price peak. It is that the market’s pricing logic is changing.

In the past, many downstream companies cared most about low-cost supply and simply bought from whoever was cheaper. After this rally, companies will increasingly realize that low prices do not necessarily mean safety. What truly matters is whether supply can remain stable, whether raw material sources can continue, whether suppliers have inventory and delivery capacity, and whether contracts can still be honored when prices fluctuate violently.

Sulfur’s explosive rise, sulfuric acid’s follow-up rally, repeated titanium dioxide price increase notices and additional price hikes from polyol giants all point to the same conclusion: the chemical industry is entering a stage that places greater emphasis on cost security and supply-chain resilience.

In the short term, some high-priced products may correct, and market sentiment may cool. But in the medium to long term, as long as global logistics, energy risks, geopolitical uncertainty and upstream supply disruptions remain, chemical prices will find it hard to return to a logic driven only by demand.

Future competition in the chemical industry will not be only about capacity and price.

It will also be about whose raw materials are more stable, whose supply chain is more resilient, and who can survive the price storm.