Chemical Prices Today (September 22, 2026): Daily Market Trends & Price Changes

Basic chemicals were largely stable but visibly split, with 34 of the 53 tracked products unchanged on the day. Gains were led by Aniline, up 1.44% to CNY 14,050/ton, Benzene, up 1.38% to CNY 9,818/ton, and Acetic acid, up 1.11% to CNY 4,553/ton, while Acetone, Propylene and Xylene moved lower by 1.67%, 1.39% and 1.37% respectively. The pattern reflects a market losing part of its crude-driven cost impulse while retaining support from coal-linked and supply-tight chains. Acetic acid extended its weekly and monthly gains to 6.64% and 24.54%, supported by higher Methanol and coal feedstock costs, low producer inventories and firm pre-holiday restocking from vinyl acetate and acetate ester buyers. Acetic anhydride held at CNY 7,158/ton on the day but remained up 5.14% on the week and 19.55% on the month, while ethyl acetate rose 0.49% to CNY 6,783/ton, confirming that the acetic acid chain is still transmitting elevated costs downstream.

The aromatics complex showed the clearest divergence from the crude selloff. Benzene rose 1.38% to CNY 9,818/ton and remained 19.47% higher on a monthly basis, supported by tight spot availability and low port inventories even as futures markets corrected sharply on September 17, when benzene and styrene futures both fell more than 5%. Toluene edged up 0.54% to CNY 8,177/ton but was still down 2.28% over the week and up 19.22% over the month, while Xylene fell 1.37% to CNY 8,327/ton with a weekly loss of 3.40%. Phenol declined 0.83% to CNY 8,925/ton and Propylene fell 1.39% to CNY 9,484/ton, as weaker crude and naphtha values reduced the willingness of buyers to chase high-priced spot cargoes. PX was unchanged at CNY 9,800/ton with a 10% monthly gain, and Aniline remained the strongest performer in the group, supported by firm benzene costs, tight supplier inventories and steady demand from rubber chemicals and MDI chains.

The ethylene derivative chain reflected the sharpest change in sentiment. Ethylene Oxide was unchanged at CNY 9,700/ton but remains up 5.43% on the week and 14.83% on the month, having reached a yearly high during September on higher feedstock costs, supply diversion from co-production units and low port inventories. Ethylene glycol was the more revealing mover, easing 0.24% to CNY 6,617/ton while still holding a 23.31% monthly gain. On September 22 the ethylene glycol futures main contract fell close to 5% intraday, pressed by a combination of lower crude values, a recovery in operating rates to around 77%, the restart of several coal-based units and the first build in East China port inventories after a long destocking run. Polyester utilisation near 74.2% and a weaker-than-expected peak season have strengthened expectations of a fourth-quarter stock build, making ethylene glycol one of the most vulnerable products in the current cost-retreat phase.

Fertilizer and sulphur-linked products continued to soften, in contrast to the strength seen earlier in the year. Sulfur rose 0.56% to CNY 7,752/ton on the day but remained 12.15% lower on a monthly basis, unwinding part of an exceptional rally that had left prices close to triple their year-earlier level. sulfuric acid was flat at CNY 1,738/ton, with weekly and monthly declines of 4.4% and 3.77% respectively, as falling sulphur costs and weak phosphate and titanium dioxide demand reduced support. Urea eased 0.11% to CNY 1,768/ton and lost 1.56% over the week, caught between maintenance outages, export loading and cost support on one side and seasonally weak agricultural demand on the other. Lithium carbonate was unchanged at CNY 134,000/ton, up 2.51% on the week but down 5.84% on the month. Futures touched CNY 124,020/ton on September 16, more than 40% below the May peak near CNY 210,000/ton, after softer ternary cathode schedules, a change in inventory reporting methodology and a more hawkish Fed outlook triggered a broad repricing of forward demand expectations.

Several chlor-alkali and solvent products instead benefited from lower energy costs. Sodium hydroxide rose 0.62% to CNY 2,583/ton and Sodium bicarbonate gained 1.01% to CNY 1,205/ton, as Shandong chlor-alkali margins recovered by around CNY 99/ton to roughly CNY 150/ton following the decline in energy costs, although high producer inventories continue to cap the upside. Caustic Soda and Dichloromethane were both unchanged on the day, with the latter still up 1.88% weekly and 8.02% monthly, while Chloroform held at CNY 2,383/ton with a 7.6% monthly gain. Formic acid and Hydrogen peroxide were flat on the day but remained down 6.39% and 2.57% over the week respectively, a sign that earlier speculative gains are still being unwound. Formaldehyde, Methanol and Propylene glycol illustrate the same split: methanol edged up 0.3% to CNY 4,065/ton with a 33.68% monthly gain, formaldehyde held at CNY 1,740/ton with a 27.74% monthly increase, while propylene glycol stayed at CNY 9,533/ton after a 3.45% weekly decline.

Metals and other inorganic products remained subdued. Cobalt fell 0.21% to CNY 280,500/ton, extending its monthly decline to 9.41%, while Nickel rose a marginal 0.23% to CNY 126,217/ton but stayed 1.95% lower on the month, with both markets weighed by the stronger dollar and a more cautious macro outlook after the Fed rate increase. Titanium dioxide was flat at CNY 14,200/ton and down 3.37% on the month amid weak coatings and real-estate-linked demand, while calcium carbide held at CNY 2,670/ton with a 7.73% monthly gain reflecting higher coal and electricity costs. Phosphoric Acid edged up 0.14% to CNY 8,350/ton but remained 2.69% lower on the month, and Potassium chloride and Potassium carbonate were unchanged with monthly declines of 3.97% and 0.11%. Overall, the Basic Chemicals complex is transitioning from a broadly cost-driven rally to a more selective market in which supply tightness, inventory levels and downstream cost absorption determine direction, with the approaching National Day holiday likely to keep restocking uneven across chains.

Fine Chemicals were the calmest of the three segments, with 10 of 14 products unchanged and only one gainer. Tetrahydrofuran recorded the largest decline at 0.97% to CNY 17,000/ton, followed by Melamine down 0.59% to CNY 6,238/ton and Sodium metabisulfite down 0.15% to CNY 3,927/ton, while sodium acetate was the only riser, up 0.16% to CNY 5,492/ton. The near-absence of daily movement reflects a segment in which contractual and needs-based purchasing dominates, and where price changes are driven more by identifiable raw-material shifts than by broad speculative flows. The most striking figure in the group is dimethyl carbonate, unchanged on the day at CNY 6,683/ton but still up 39.23% on the month and down 0.79% on the week, indicating that the product is consolidating after an exceptionally strong monthly advance rather than reversing.

Melamine remained caught between firm upstream costs and weak downstream absorption. The product fell 0.59% to CNY 6,238/ton, leaving it broadly flat on the week and only 0.19% higher on the month, despite Urea and coal costs providing a solid cost floor and several producers attempting to lift ex-works quotations during September. Industry price assessments showed melamine holding around CNY 6,262/ton through the middle of the month, roughly 11% above year-earlier levels but well below the pace of increase seen in energy and petrochemical markets. The muted monthly gain confirms that laminate, tableware and resin demand is insufficient to convert higher urea and coal costs into a sustained price acceleration, leaving melamine in a cost-supported but demand-constrained range.

Sodium metabisulfite extended its gentle downtrend, falling 0.15% to CNY 3,927/ton with weekly and monthly declines of 0.48% and 0.8%. The weakness is primarily cost-driven: Sulfur, its key raw material, is 12.15% lower on a monthly basis, and the sulphur complex has been unwinding the exceptional gains accumulated earlier in the year. With inventories described as broadly balanced and demand steady from food preservation, water treatment and mining applications, the falling cost base has reduced producers willingness to defend previous price levels. The relatively small magnitude of the monthly decline suggests a balanced market rather than a demand collapse, and near-term direction is likely to remain tightly linked to sulphur pricing and the pace of pre-holiday replenishment.

PTMEG-related Tetrahydrofuran remained the weakest product in the group, falling 0.97% to CNY 17,000/ton and extending its monthly decline to 8.24%. Domestic spandex prices have stayed around CNY 29,000/ton, with mainstream 40D transactions concentrated at CNY 28,000–30,000/ton, as the sector remains squeezed between firm BDO and PTMEG costs and weak seasonal textile demand. Industry commentary through mid-September described the non-spandex PTMEG market as range-bound with elevated offers, noting that producers remain loss-making and are attempting to support prices, while downstream buyers purchase only against firm orders. This explains the current pattern of stabilising raw-material costs alongside a still-negative monthly performance.

The remaining fine chemical products were entirely unchanged, underlining how narrow the current drivers are. Citric acid held at CNY 6,200/ton, Lactic acid at CNY 8,113/ton, Hydroquinone at CNY 30,500/ton, Oleic acid at CNY 10,000/ton, glycolic acid at CNY 13,000/ton, Ferric chloride at CNY 2,808/ton, Sodium hypochlorite at CNY 553/ton and Water softener salt at CNY 967/ton. Taken together, the Fine Chemicals segment continues to be characterised by cost transmission rather than broad-based demand expansion: melamine is supported by urea and coal but capped by weak resin demand, sodium metabisulfite is being pulled lower by falling sulphur costs, and PTMEG remains constrained by a weak spandex chain. With the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday approaching, selected chains may see temporary restocking support, but the narrow daily ranges suggest that buyers and sellers remain closely matched on price expectations.

Energy, Rubber, Plastic and other chemicals showed the clearest response to the crude-oil correction, with eight of eleven tracked products flat or lower. WTI Crude Oil fell 4.17%, Carbon Black lost 2.61%, Asphalt declined 1.59% and HDPE fell 1.17%, while Anthracite, Silica, kerosene and Carbon were unchanged. The contrast is instructive: products priced directly off crude and refined-product values corrected immediately, whereas coal-linked, supply-constrained and specialty products retained their recent gains. Monthly data still show a strongly positive segment, with Asphalt up 28.02%, Carbon Black up 28.71% and ABS up 14.36%, confirming that the daily weakness represents a pause after an unusually strong September rather than a change in trend.

WTI Crude Oil fell to USD 92/barrel, its second consecutive heavy decline after an 8.13% drop on September 21 when OPEC+ unexpectedly announced that Saudi Arabia and the UAE would accelerate production increases by 900,000 barrels per day from October 1, on top of a previously scheduled 188,000 barrels per day rise. The move was reinforced on September 22 by expectations of diplomatic progress on the Middle East conflict, including the Iranian president travelling to the United Nations in New York, and by indications that Saudi export capacity is recovering, with around 14 million barrels reported loaded onto seven very large crude carriers in a single week. The Federal Reserve decision on September 16 to raise rates by 25 basis points to 3.75%–4.00%, the first increase since 2023, lifted the dollar index above 100 and added a further demand-side headwind. For chemical buyers, the key question is whether the loss of the geopolitical premium proves temporary or marks the start of a sustained move back toward the low nineties.

Anthracite was unchanged at CNY 1,750/ton on the day but remained 7.69% higher on the week, even though monthly prices are still 1.65% lower. The coal complex continues to be supported by a domestic supply contraction that began after the May 22 Shanxi mine accident, with official data showing that all coal categories rose further in early September: washed medium-lump anthracite at CNY 1,618.2/ton, up 9.6% from the previous period, Shanxi 5,500 kcal thermal coal up 8.8%, coking coal up 9.5% and coke up 12.7%. With coal social inventories reported around 7.4% below year-earlier levels and mine restarts progressing more slowly than expected, anthracite remains supply-driven rather than demand-driven, and the higher cost base continues to feed into calcium carbide, nitrogen fertilizer and coal-chemical production costs.

Asphalt eased 1.59% to CNY 6,200/ton, but the product remains 2.51% higher on the week and 28.02% higher on the month, and the fundamentals behind that strength have not changed. Refinery production plans for September were set at around 1.575 million tons, down 11.1% from August and 42.9% year on year, with operating rates near 22% and several units, including Shandong Lanqiao, Qilu and Shengxing, either shut or switched to residue production. Producer inventories were reported at 451,000 tons as of September 17, down 9.6% on the week and 33.6% year on year, while social inventories fell 13.5% to 569,000 tons, some 64.5% below year-earlier levels. Demand remains the limiting factor: modified asphalt utilisation is only around 10.3% and waterproofing membrane operating rates near 30%, as high prices delay non-essential road projects. The small daily decline therefore reflects crude-cost easing rather than any easing of the underlying supply tightness.

Refined product prices were almost unchanged, with Gasoline down 0.1% to CNY 10,068/ton and kerosene flat at CNY 8,200/ton. Although crude futures fell sharply, domestic refined oil prices continue to be supported by high replacement costs and low inventories, with refinery utilisation reported lower and gasoline and diesel stocks at reduced levels. The domestic retail pricing mechanism remains a key near-term catalyst: calculations based on the first five working days of the current cycle pointed to a reference crude average of around USD 104/barrel and an indicated retail increase of roughly CNY 620/ton for gasoline and diesel, with the adjustment window falling on September 24. This combination of a weaker futures market, a still-tight physical market and a pending retail price increase explains why domestic refined product prices have so far lagged the crude correction.

In rubber-related materials, pricing remained dominated by feedstock dynamics. Carbon Black fell 2.61% to CNY 12,243/ton as the high-temperature coal tar that accounts for 65%–80% of production costs retreated from its peak, with Shandong coal tar falling back from around CNY 6,720/ton and N330 offers easing to CNY 11,300–11,500/ton. The China Rubber Industry Association has described the September increase as a cost-driven, supply-contraction adjustment, noting that the sector recorded a first-half 2026 loss of about CNY 115 million and that tyre makers, running at around 65% utilisation, continue to resist high prices. Silica, by contrast, was unchanged at CNY 6,400/ton and remained up 3.06% on the week and 2.55% on the month. Precipitated rubber-grade silica has been quoted in a CNY 5,200–6,000/ton range while fumed silica has moved higher on tight availability of methyltrichlorosilane and reduced organosilicon output, giving the silica market a firmer tone than carbon black.

Plastics continued to correct as downstream buyers resisted elevated prices. ABS fell 0.75% to CNY 11,017/ton, extending its weekly decline to 3.46% while retaining a 14.36% monthly gain, as household appliance and automotive demand recovered more slowly than expected and holders became more willing to sell into a falling styrene and butadiene market. HDPE declined 1.17% to CNY 10,570/ton, down 2.57% on the week but still up 3.62% on the month, with polyolefin markets balancing recovering domestic supply against cautious converter purchasing and only modest seasonal support from food packaging ahead of the holidays. PVC eased 0.43% to CNY 4,650/ton and was down 1.46% on the week, as easing coal and calcium carbide costs reduced the cost floor while weak property-sector demand limited any recovery in pipe and profile consumption; the product nonetheless remains 8.42% higher than a month earlier. Carbon was unchanged at CNY 12,433/ton with a 1.63% monthly gain.

Overall, the Energy, Rubber, Plastic and other chemicals segment is now clearly split between supply-constrained commodities and high-priced downstream polymers. Anthracite and Asphalt continue to be supported by restricted supply and low inventories, Gasoline and kerosene are holding up on tight physical balances and a pending retail price adjustment, and Silica is benefiting from tight upstream organosilicon supply. In contrast, ABS, HDPE and PVC have entered a phase of price digestion after substantial earlier gains, and Carbon Black has begun to correct as its raw-material squeeze eases. With crude now the dominant swing factor, the near-term outlook depends on whether the OPEC+ supply increase is delivered as announced and whether the Middle East diplomatic opening holds; the approaching National Day holiday is likely to provide temporary restocking support while also raising the risk of post-holiday inventory normalisation.

Make Guidechem a preferred source on Google