Chemical Prices Today (September 2, 2026): Daily Market Trends & Price Changes

Basic chemicals showed a broadly firmer tone, led by Methanol, Acetonitrile, Ammonium chloride, Propylene glycol, PX, Toluene and Xylene, while several solvent products corrected sharply. Methanol rose 3.91% day-on-day and remained the strongest monthly gainer at 19.90%, supported by renewed Middle East geopolitical tensions, higher energy costs and tightening supply; industry data showed domestic methanol inventories continuing to decline, with September port arrivals expected to fall substantially. This cost pressure also continued to transmit downstream, lifting Formaldehyde by 5.64% and Formic acid by 4.76%, while Acetic acid and Acetic anhydride gained 1.47% and 0.80%, respectively, amid relatively tight availability and firm producer offers. Acetonitrile jumped 7.16% to 8,750 CNY/TON, with tight operating rates at by-product plants, stronger pharmaceutical and peptide demand and increased export orders supporting the market. Ammonium chloride also advanced 6.41%, reflecting firmer fertilizer-sector pricing and replenishment activity. In the olefin and aromatics complex, Propylene increased 3.03%, PX surged 5.88%, while Toluene and Xylene rose 4.61% and 3.91%, respectively, as higher crude oil prices and renewed geopolitical supply concerns strengthened feedstock costs; PX was additionally supported by a sharp 500 CNY/TON adjustment in domestic spot quotations. Meanwhile, Ethylene glycol and PET increased 1.82% and 1.95%, respectively, reflecting continued cost support from the polyester chain. On the downside, Isopropyl alcohol fell 10.51% and Dichloromethane declined 5.96%, indicating profit-taking and weaker spot trading after previous gains, while Ammonium sulfate dropped 5.93% and Lithium carbonate slipped 1.92%. Overall, the market remains characterized by strong cost-side inflation and selective supply tightness, but the divergence between upstream feedstocks and downstream solvents suggests that high prices are increasingly meeting resistance from end-user demand.

Fine chemicals showed a distinctly divergent trend, with Dimethyl carbonate (DMC) and Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) emerging as the strongest movers, while most other specialty products remained stable or corrected. DMC rose 4.70% day-on-day, 5.21% on the week and 13.54% on the month, supported by production-unit shutdowns and reduced operating rates that tightened spot availability, while demand from polycarbonate and electrolyte-solvent applications improved and export orders increased. Recent market reports also pointed to declining inventory pressure and firmer seller offers, reinforcing the upward momentum. DMSO surged 12.64% to 12,250 CNY/TON, although its weekly performance remained negative at -3.49%, suggesting that the latest jump partly reflects a rebound from recently depressed transaction levels rather than a fully established uptrend. Regional quotations remained widely dispersed, indicating significant differentiation by purity, grade and supplier availability. Meanwhile, Lauric acid maintained a high price level at 14,533 CNY/TON and recorded an 11.79% weekly increase, reflecting continued strength in the oleochemical chain and higher palm-based feedstock costs. Oleic acid also remained firm, gaining 2.84% on the week and 2.76% on the month. In contrast, Polyethylene glycol (PEG) fell 5.21% day-on-day, despite a 3.29% weekly gain, indicating short-term profit-taking and weaker spot demand after the previous rebound. PTMEG declined 0.97% on the day and 8.28% on the month, highlighting persistent downstream pressure from the spandex and polyurethane chains; however, tighter BDO supply and recent maintenance activity provide some cost-side support and could limit further downside. Silver iodide recorded an exceptional 88.31% daily increase, but its monthly change remained deeply negative at -44.75%, indicating that the move should be interpreted as a sharp low-base correction or quotation normalization rather than a broad-based fundamental rally. Most commodity-like fine chemicals, including Activated carbon, Citric acid, Ferric chloride, Glycolic acid, Hydroquinone, Lactic acid, Melamine, Sodium acetate, Sodium benzoate and Sodium metabisulfite, remained broadly stable, pointing to relatively limited demand-driven inflation outside selected high-volatility segments. Overall, the fine chemicals market is currently characterized by selective supply tightening rather than broad-based demand expansion: products linked to new-energy solvents, oleochemicals and constrained feedstocks are receiving stronger cost and supply support, while downstream-sensitive intermediates remain vulnerable to inventory pressure and cautious procurement. The near-term market is therefore likely to remain highly differentiated, with supply disruptions and feedstock costs driving the upside while weak end-user demand caps the sustainability of price increases.

Energy, plastics and rubber-related products strengthened overall, with the sharpest gains concentrated in crude oil, coal-derived energy products and selected polymer resins. WTI Crude Oil rose 4.65% day-on-day to 90 USD/BBL, while the latest market settlement reached around 91 USD/BBL, as renewed U.S.-Iran military tensions and disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz continued to elevate global supply-risk premiums. On September 2, only four commodity vessels were reported to have transited the Strait of Hormuz, compared with a 10-day average of around 13, highlighting the ongoing shipping disruption and providing strong support to crude oil and refined-product prices. Gasoline increased 2.13% on the day and remained up 9.30% on the month, reflecting the rapid transmission of higher crude oil costs into refined products. Asphalt was unchanged on the day but gained 7.74% on the week and 14.22% on the month, indicating that the cumulative increase in crude oil and feedstock costs has been successfully transmitted into the road-paving materials market; however, relatively cautious downstream construction activity continues to limit the pace of further increases. Anthracite jumped 11.11% day-on-day, but remained down 4.97% on the week and 2.06% on the month, suggesting that the latest move was primarily a short-term rebound rather than evidence of a sustained structural coal-price uptrend. In plastics, ABS rose 2.65% to 11,017 CNY/TON, with weekly and monthly gains reaching 3.44% and 10.04%, respectively. The increase reflects stronger cost support from styrene, acrylonitrile and butadiene, together with relatively constrained domestic operating rates; recent market assessments have also highlighted low operating rates and maintenance at some ABS plants as factors supporting local supply. Nevertheless, downstream appliance and automotive demand remains a constraint, meaning that the current ABS rally is more cost- and supply-driven than demand-led. HDPE also increased 1.85% on the day and 3.38% on the month, benefiting from higher crude oil and ethylene-chain costs, although its comparatively modest monthly gain suggests that downstream demand has not yet fully absorbed the cost increase. EAA and POE remained essentially unchanged, indicating that specialty polymer demand is still relatively selective. In rubber-related materials, Carbon Black held at 9,143 CNY/TON but remained 5.79% higher on the month, while Silica edged up 0.54% on the day and 1.35% on the month. The relatively limited daily movement suggests that tire and rubber demand has not yet generated a broad-based price acceleration, although higher energy and feedstock costs continue to provide a floor for producers. Carbon also remained broadly stable at 12,300 CNY/TON. Overall, the market is increasingly being driven by a strong energy-cost transmission mechanism: crude oil and refined products are leading the upward move, selected plastics such as ABS and HDPE are following with a lag, while rubber and specialty products remain more demand-sensitive. The key near-term risk is that persistent geopolitical disruption around the Strait of Hormuz keeps crude oil above recent levels and pushes petrochemical feedstock costs higher; however, weak downstream consumption and existing polymer overcapacity could prevent the cost inflation from translating into a uniform rally across all plastics and rubber products.

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