Chemical Prices Today (August 21, 2026): Daily Market Trends & Price Changes

Basic chemicals showed a mixed performance, with Methanol, Dichloromethane, and Lithium carbonate among the notable gainers. Methanol rose 2.82% day-on-day to CNY 2,957/ton, supported by tight coastal supply and expectations of limited imports, while the domestic East China market had climbed about 9.20% over the previous week. Dichloromethane advanced 4.24% to CNY 2,187/ton, with higher methanol and liquid-chlorine costs, maintenance-related supply tightening, and firm producer offers providing support. Lithium carbonate increased 2.67% to CNY 154,000/ton, while recent industry developments, including new long-term spodumene supply arrangements in North America, continue to highlight strengthening strategic demand for lithium resources.

Several solvent and aromatic products also remained firm, although individual products diverged. Benzene rose 0.66% on the day and was up 7.38% week-on-week, while Toluene and Xylene gained 0.46% and 1.40%, respectively, with their monthly increases reaching 6.65% and 9.80%. The broader olefins market remained relatively strong, with Platts assessing China CFR polymer-grade propylene at around USD 1,100/ton on August 21. Meanwhile, Acetone declined 1.65% to CNY 6,725/ton, despite remaining 14.29% above its level a month earlier; industry data indicated that Asian acetone fundamentals were broadly balanced, suggesting the recent decline is more consistent with short-term profit-taking and demand resistance than a fundamental collapse.

On the downside, Ammonium sulfate fell 4.90% day-on-day, while Heptane declined 2.13%. Sulfuric acid remained unchanged at CNY 1,835/ton but was down 1.92% on a weekly basis, with SMM reporting that weak downstream demand remained the key constraint and the Chinese sulfuric acid price center continued to decline for a seventh consecutive week. The fertilizer-related market also remained cautious, with weak downstream purchasing limiting upward momentum despite relatively stable supply conditions.

Industrial and mineral chemicals recorded some of the sharpest daily corrections. Kaolin dropped 48.48% to CNY 850/ton, while Zinc oxide fell 24.69% to CNY 18,000/ton and Iron powder declined 18.03% to CNY 5,000/ton. The sharp move in kaolin is consistent with broader weakness in ceramic raw-material demand: recent industry reporting showed that Chinese ceramic markets have faced weaker orders, intensified competition, and downward pressure on raw-material prices, while lower-priced supplies from several producing regions have increased competitive pressure. For zinc-related products, downstream activity remained relatively soft, with zinc oxide operating rates reported at around 51%, while domestic zinc inventories continued to build, limiting demand-side support.

Overall, the market remains characterized by a clear split between cost- and supply-supported products and those constrained by weak downstream demand. Methanol, Dichloromethane, Propylene glycol, Lithium carbonate, and aromatic products maintained upward momentum, while sulfuric acid, ammonium sulfate, heptane, and several mineral products remained under pressure. The sharpest moves in today's dataset appear to be concentrated in individual products rather than reflecting a broad-based trend across basic chemicals, suggesting that near-term supply availability, feedstock costs, inventory conditions, and downstream purchasing behavior will remain the key drivers of price direction.

Fine chemicals remained broadly mixed, with Silver iodide, Imidazole, and PTMEG recording the strongest daily gains, while Poly(ethylene glycol), Calcium carbonate, and Cyanuric acid remained under pressure. Silver iodide surged 33.37% day-on-day to CNY 2,406/kg, the largest move in the current basket, as the sharp rally in the underlying silver market provided an important cost and valuation boost. Shanghai silver rose 2.60% on August 21, while domestic silver futures and spot prices also strengthened sharply amid a weaker U.S. dollar, lower Treasury yields and expectations of resilient industrial demand.

Imidazole climbed 13.33% to CNY 34,000/ton, extending its weekly increase to 6.88%. The sharp daily move points to a relatively tight spot market and stronger seller pricing, although public market information provides limited evidence for attributing the entire increase to a single supply event. Meanwhile, the broader pharmaceutical and specialty-chemical sector continued to attract attention, with PEG-based pharmaceutical derivatives becoming a notable industry theme. On August 21, Keymed Biosciences-related PEG derivative producer JianKai Technology reached its daily limit, reflecting strong market interest in high-end PEG derivatives, pharmaceutical excipients and domestic substitution.

PTMEG increased 9.21% day-on-day to CNY 20,750/ton, with its weekly and monthly gains reaching 3.99% and 1.66%, respectively. The move came against a firmer BDO chain: domestic BDO East China prices were reported at CNY 8,050/ton on August 21, while industry sources continued to monitor tight BDO supply and recent unit maintenance. However, the PTMEG market itself remained differentiated by molecular weight and application, with reported market quotations varying significantly across suppliers. This suggests that the recent rise in the user's benchmark is likely reflecting a combination of upstream cost support, availability differences and firmer quotations rather than a uniform industry-wide repricing.

On the downside, Poly(ethylene glycol) dropped 14.09% day-on-day to CNY 9,450/ton, despite remaining slightly above its level a month earlier. The sharp correction appears more consistent with spot-market adjustment and supplier quotation differences than with a broad collapse in PEG-related demand. In contrast, the high-value pharmaceutical PEG derivative segment continues to receive strong market attention, highlighting the increasing divergence between conventional bulk PEG products and higher-value specialty PEG derivatives.

Cyanuric acid fell 2.84% to CNY 7,433/ton, extending its weekly decline to 9.17%, although the product remained 5.30% above its level a month earlier. The decline indicates continued short-term pressure from downstream purchasing and inventory digestion after the previous rebound. Potassium citrate also slipped 1.61% day-on-day, while Potassium sorbate remained unchanged but was still up 30.73% week-on-week, showing that some food-additive and fine-chemical products are experiencing sharp weekly repricing even when daily quotations temporarily stabilize.

Among the longer-term declines, Calcium carbonate stood out, with the benchmark unchanged at CNY 500/ton but down 38.14% over the month. The absence of a daily move suggests that the market may currently be stabilizing after a substantial correction, rather than entering another immediate downward leg. Similarly, Lauric acid was flat on the day but remained down 14.99% monthly, while Sorbitol was unchanged but down 7.41% weekly. These products indicate that weak downstream consumption and inventory pressure remain important themes across selected specialty and functional chemical segments.

Overall, the Fine Chemicals market showed a stronger degree of differentiation than the basic-chemical sector. Upward momentum was concentrated in Silver iodide, Imidazole and PTMEG, driven respectively by precious-metal cost support, tighter specialty-product quotations and upstream BDO-chain strength. At the same time, PEG, Cyanuric acid, Potassium citrate and selected fatty-acid or additive products faced correction pressure. Going forward, attention should remain on upstream raw-material costs, spot availability, inventory digestion and the recovery of pharmaceutical, food-additive and specialty-material demand, as these factors are likely to determine whether the recent price divergence persists.

Energy markets remained firmly supported, with WTI Crude Oil, Gasoline and Asphalt all posting notable gains. WTI in the supplied dataset rose 3.57% to USD 87/barrel, while market data showed WTI closing around USD 87.06/barrel on August 21 and gaining more than 5% over the week. The rally was primarily driven by escalating U.S.-Iran geopolitical tensions and continued disruption risks around the Strait of Hormuz, with Washington threatening additional sanctions on countries trading with Iran. Brent and WTI both recorded their second consecutive weekly gains, keeping the geopolitical risk premium elevated.

Refined energy products followed the crude rally, with Gasoline increasing 1.59% day-on-day to CNY 9,046/ton and gaining 8.10% over the month. The strength reflects both higher crude feedstock costs and tight refined-product supply conditions. In the United States, authorities also permitted an early transition to winter-grade gasoline blends as an emergency measure intended to increase fuel availability and ease price pressure amid ongoing Middle East-related supply disruptions. Kerosene, by contrast, remained unchanged at CNY 8,200/ton, suggesting that the pass-through from crude to individual refined products remains uneven.

Asphalt rose 3.00% to CNY 4,630/ton, extending its weekly gain to 3.12%. The increase was supported by the combination of elevated crude-oil costs, refinery maintenance and uneven restart schedules, which tightened spot availability. At the same time, seasonal road-construction activity and a gradual release of downstream procurement provided additional support. Recent market analysis specifically identified high crude costs, refinery shutdowns and the seasonal construction window as the main drivers behind the August 21 jump in asphalt prices.

The rubber chain also strengthened, led by Carbon Black, which climbed 3.07% to CNY 8,864/ton. The weekly increase reached 1.07%, with market monitoring showing N220 carbon black at approximately CNY 8,864/ton and raw-material coal tar prices rising sharply. High-temperature coal tar in Shandong reached around CNY 4,340–4,370/ton by August 20, up CNY 290–320/ton from the previous week, as coke-plant production cuts tightened supply. However, downstream tire demand remained relatively weak, meaning the current rally is primarily cost-driven rather than demand-led. Carbon-black operating rates did improve modestly, further suggesting that high raw-material costs rather than a supply shortage at the carbon-black level are the dominant short-term driver.

In plastics, ABS edged down 0.32% day-on-day to CNY 10,167/ton but remained 5.03% above its level a week earlier. The modest daily correction occurred despite relatively firm upstream conditions, as styrene, butadiene and other feedstocks continued to provide cost support. Domestic ABS producer quotations on August 21 were generally stable, with representative offers around CNY 10,300–10,900/ton, indicating that the market was consolidating after its recent advance rather than entering a sharp downtrend. The broader plastics complex was also supported by firmer petrochemical futures, with Dalian PP and LLDPE futures gaining on August 21.

PVC presented a more complicated picture. The supplied benchmark for PVC (CAS 93050-82-9) fell 14.42% day-on-day to CNY 4,450/ton, although it remained up 15.85% week-on-week, while the separate PVC benchmark was unchanged at CNY 4,600/ton. Market data show that PVC futures had risen sharply during the week before retreating, while spot prices remained relatively stable. Supply was still affected by maintenance, but downstream operating rates remained weak and inventories were relatively high. Consequently, cost support and supply-side maintenance were competing with weak demand and high inventories, leaving the market in a volatile but fundamentally range-bound condition.

The supplied POM benchmark showed an exceptional 225% day-on-day increase to CNY 13,000/ton, but this move should be treated cautiously because it is inconsistent with observed regional spot-market quotations. On August 21, Mysteel reported POM prices around CNY 9,900–11,400/ton across major domestic markets, with no daily change. This suggests that the unusually large move in the supplied series may reflect a benchmark, grade, supplier or data-definition change rather than an actual one-day market repricing of 225%. Therefore, the POM increase should not be interpreted as a broad market rally without further confirmation of the underlying product specification.

Overall, Energy remained the strongest bullish driver across the group, with crude-oil geopolitical risk feeding into gasoline and asphalt costs. Rubber products were also supported by higher coal-tar feedstock costs, although weak tire demand limited the upside in carbon black. In Plastics, ABS maintained a relatively firm weekly trend while PVC remained caught between supply-side maintenance and weak downstream consumption. The most notable data anomaly was POM, where the reported 225% daily increase is substantially above contemporaneous spot-market quotations and should therefore be verified before being used as a market signal. Overall, the near-term direction of these markets is likely to remain highly sensitive to crude-oil prices, Middle East supply risks, refinery operating rates, petrochemical feedstock costs, inventory levels and downstream purchasing activity.