Chemical Prices Today (October 16, 2026): Daily Market Trends & Price Changes

Basic chemicals saw 23 of 62 tracked products move — 3 higher against 20 lower, marginally milder than Friday’s 3-against-18 but the same direction, with 39 lines not moving at all. The three gains were Aniline up 1.26% to CNY 16,100/ton, Sodium sulfate up 1.79% to CNY 570/ton and Heptane up 0.24% to CNY 16,400/ton. Everything else fell, led by Propylene glycol down 3.62% to CNY 9,317/ton, Lithium carbonate down 2.88% to CNY 101,000/ton, Cobalt down 2.12% to CNY 248,800/ton, Formaldehyde down 1.70% to CNY 1,853/ton, Acetone down 1.61% to CNY 8,363/ton, Phenol down 1.43% to CNY 9,413/ton, Nickel down 1.43% to CNY 117,383/ton, Benzene down 1.20% to CNY 10,441/ton, ethyl acetate down 1.01% to CNY 7,127/ton, Toluene down 0.94% to CNY 8,883/ton, Ammonium sulfate down 0.80% to CNY 1,240/ton, calcium carbide down 0.78% to CNY 2,560/ton, Methanol down 0.58% to CNY 3,967/ton, Xylene down 0.57% to CNY 8,693/ton, Potassium chloride down 0.52% to CNY 3,233/ton, Urea down 0.40% to CNY 1,728/ton, White phosphorus down 0.35% to CNY 28,296/ton, Sulfur down 0.25% to CNY 6,652/ton, Propylene down 0.16% to CNY 10,684/ton and PET down 0.12% to CNY 8,851/ton.

The sulphur chain stopped bleeding; the nitrogen chain did not. After Friday’s 7.15% capitulation, sulfuric acid held exactly unchanged at CNY 1,558/ton — the industrial benchmark sat flat at CNY 1,557.50 — and Sulfur gave back only 0.25% to CNY 6,652/ton, matching the benchmark reference to within a rounding error, though it remains 8.83% lower on the week. On the same board, liquid ammonia fell a further 4.27% to CNY 2,616.67/ton after Friday’s 6.29% collapse, taking its weekly loss to 12.97%, the worst of any chemical on the week table — the winter-demand failure is still being transmitted, now through the nitrogen leg. The downstream evidence is consistent: Urea slipped 0.40% to CNY 1,728/ton (benchmark 1,727.50, weekly minus 1.71%), Ammonium sulfate fell 0.80% to CNY 1,240/ton exactly matching the board’s weekly endpoint, and Potassium chloride eased 0.52% to CNY 3,233/ton against the import benchmark’s 3,233.33. Monoammonium phosphate held at CNY 3,656.67/ton. The acid buyers have not returned; they have simply stopped marking the price down in panic, which is a different thing entirely.

Lithium’s repricing has broken the round number that anchored the whole complex. The tracked Lithium carbonate line fell 2.88% to CNY 101,000/ton, its thirteenth consecutive decline, a 24.6% loss from CNY 134,000/ton on September 22 in under four weeks, and the print matches the board’s battery-grade weekly endpoint of 101,000 exactly. The physical market is not the problem: September to November is the chain’s restocking window, full-chain inventory covers only 23.8 days and is forecast toward 14 by year-end, weekly output rose just 191 tonnes to 26,086 tonnes, spodumene CIF has eased to USD 1,350–1,380 and hydroxide prices are falling faster than carbonate (industrial minus 6.82%, battery grade minus 5.88% on the day, the board’s two worst chemicals). The futures market is trading past that reality: the Guangzhou exchange main contract closed at 96,320 yuan, down 4.20% at a new year-to-date low, an 18.88% weekly collapse, pricing a 2027–28 supply wave of roughly 500,000 tonnes of LCE a year against demand narratives that are fraying — NEV penetration near 67% means mathematically slower growth, and the 2027 storage view has turned openly bearish as project returns compress. The collateral damage is instructive: cathode maker Wanrun New Energy disclosed a hedging floating loss of CNY 93.85 million for September 29 to October 12 alone, and Anda Technology CNY 58.6 million to September 30 — long-biased industrial hedges that met a falling curve head-on. Outside lithium the metals picture split: Cobalt fell 2.12% to CNY 248,800/ton for a fifth straight decline (minus 9.1% on the month) and Nickel lost 1.43% to CNY 117,383/ton as the domestic contract dropped over 2%, but copper held (plus 0.03%) and tin actually rose 1.34% — the retreat is now specific to the battery-metal complex while the base-metal benchmarks have settled. Within the segment, Dysprosium at CNY 1,955,000/ton, Silicon at CNY 9,700/ton and Iron at CNY 6,000/ton were unchanged.

Aniline was the board’s one genuine cost-push gain, and it is a supply story. The line rose 1.26% to CNY 16,100/ton and the benchmark moved in perfect lockstep from CNY 15,900.00, putting aniline 101.38% above its year-earlier level and 5.18% higher on the week. The drivers are turnarounds and inventory position, not demand: Shanxi Tianqi began planned maintenance this week, Jilin Xuyang/Kan'er is next, and low East China port stocks plus mid-month short-covering lifted pure benzene, which lifts aniline — even though the tracked Benzene line itself fell 1.20% to CNY 10,441/ton, and the board itself notes downstream acceptance is weakening at the new highs, which caps follow-through. The aromatic complex around it was green: Ethyl acetate minus 1.01%, Toluene minus 0.94%, Xylene minus 0.57%, PX unchanged at CNY 10,500/ton, and the domestic futures board printed declines over 1% in pure benzene, styrene (down 3.35% on the spot board), propylene, PP and bottle-grade flakes — domestic chemical futures falling the same day crude gained 3.5% is the central divergence of the tape. The cumene pair confirms the demand read: Phenol fell 1.43% to CNY 9,413/ton, retracing nearly all of Friday’s 1.60% gain, and Acetone fell 1.61% to CNY 8,363/ton (benchmark CNY 8,362.50; still 102.97% year on year); both halves of the oxidation unit are now marked down together, so this is a uniform demand de-rating, not the previous session’s relative-value rotation. The coal-gas chain keeps unwinding its September squeeze: Methanol minus 0.58% to CNY 3,967/ton (benchmark 3,966.67; weekly minus 14.46% against a monthly plus 12.14% that still leaves the level elevated), Formaldehyde minus 1.70% to CNY 1,853/ton for a fourth consecutive decline (benchmark 1,852.50), and Heptane eked a rare gain at plus 0.24% to CNY 16,400/ton, matched exactly by the board.

The flat list carries most of the segment’s weight: Caustic Soda at CNY 631/ton (the futures contract fell 32 yuan to 1,740 as chlor-alkali utilisation dropped 4 points to 74.8% and integrated economics stayed negative), Sodium hydroxide at CNY 2,570/ton, Dichloromethane at CNY 3,295/ton holding a 18.53% weekly and 26.49% monthly gain — the biggest double winner on both clocks — Chloroform flat at CNY 2,600/ton on a 6.08% weekly advance, Formic acid flat at CNY 2,100/ton (minus 9.11% on the month), Titanium dioxide at CNY 14,260/ton, Phosphoric Acid at CNY 8,400/ton, Ethylene glycol frozen at CNY 5,967/ton on a 5.22% weekly slide, ethylene oxide at CNY 9,700/ton, EVA at CNY 11,467/ton, Butane at CNY 6,700/ton, Propane at CNY 6,150/ton, Borax, boric acid, Calcium chloride, Calcium phosphate, Ammonium nitrate, Hydrochloric acid, Hydrogen peroxide, Sodium bicarbonate, Sodium sulfate’s smaller cousins, Pyridine, Hexane, Ethanol, Iodine (CNY 640/kg), Potassium carbonate, Potassium nitrate, Poly(vinyl alcohol), Zinc chloride, Zinc sulfate, Zinc oxide at CNY 38,000/ton after a 22.82% monthly surge, and the returning artefact-prone line Mineral oil flat at CNY 40,750/ton with its minus 24.09% monthly reading still carried on its back.

The overall read for Basic Chemicals is that the correction phase has paused and a freeze has set in. Thirty-nine of 62 lines did not move; the panic items of Friday (sulphuric acid, sulfur) have found a floor for now; and the only genuine new price action is in the battery chain repricing 2027 and in a small cost-push pocket (aniline) that refuses to follow the crude surge. Energy costs are rising while chemical prices fall or sit still — that is a margin story, not a cost story, and it is why formaldehyde, melamine and acetone keep being marked down against a record oil tape. Buyers should treat the frozen lines as negotiation targets rather than panic items, watch whether the Hormuz premium finally breaks the chemical-side freeze, and note the two live exceptions: aniline at highs the board itself says downstream cannot digest, and PG unwinding back to its mid-September level within one session.

Fine chemicals tracked 31 products, the segment’s widest coverage of the week after returning lines, and only 3 lines moved, all lower. Melamine eased 0.40% to CNY 6,250/ton, PTMEG (carried under the legacy English label Tetrahydrofuran) slipped 0.85% to CNY 19,500/ton, and Potassium sorbate printed the artefact 24.5% decline. The other twenty-eight products were unchanged: Alkaline Phosphatase, antifreeze, Benzyl alcohol, calcium acetate, Castor oil, Citric acid, Clotrimazole, dimethyl carbonate, Dimethyl sulfoxide, Ferric chloride, glycolic acid, Guar gum, Hydroquinone, Lactic acid, Magnesium glycinate, Melatonin, Oleic acid, Petroleum, Quartz, Retinol, Silver iodide, sodium acetate, Sodium hypochlorite, Sodium metabisulfite, tranexamic acid, Triclopyr, Water softener salt and Xanthan gum — including all four CNY-per-kilogram lines, which sat perfectly still.

Potassium sorbate deserves the cleanest possible explanation because it is the headline number of the day and one of the two artefacts. On October 15 the line was quoted at CNY 20,000/ton, roughly 18% above its October 9 level of about CNY 16,980; today’s CNY 15,100/ton unwinds that outlier quote and then drifts below the week-ago level, leaving the true weekly reading at minus 11.08% and the month at plus 2.87%. The correct interpretation is a bad print corrected, not a new collapse — and this edition therefore excludes it from every ranking and headline. Anthracite, in the energy segment, has the identical structure: the October 15 quote of CNY 1,750/ton was about 9% above the week’s level, and today’s CNY 1,575/ton is where the market has actually been trading, only 1.87% below October 9.

Melamine eased 0.40% to CNY 6,250/ton, moving in exact lockstep with its urea feedstock (minus 0.40% on the same session, benchmark CNY 1,727.50) inside a nitrogen complex still running at historic-high operating rates with producer stocks near 1.48 million tonnes; on the month melamine is still 0.77% higher, so this is a grind, not a break. PTMEG returned to coverage and immediately drifted lower, minus 0.85% to CNY 19,500/ton, retracing the September squeeze that left it 9.61% above month-start while the weekly reading turned 2.95% negative — spandex-chain offtake has not confirmed the earlier run-up, and given this line’s history of erratic prints its trend read should be taken with the usual caution. The quiet positive is Sodium metabisulfite, unchanged at CNY 3,893/ton after Friday’s 0.18% slip: with sulfur down only 0.25% today, the feedstock-cost collapse flagged yesterday has itself stopped moving, and the pass-through pressure has paused with it. dimethyl carbonate held at CNY 6,033/ton, Dimethyl sulfoxide at CNY 12,075/ton on a 4.06% weekly advance, Benzyl alcohol, Lactic acid, sodium acetate, Castor oil (returned, flat, plus 2.88% weekly) and Silver iodide (returned, flat, plus 20.22% monthly, the most artefact-prone line in the series and notably still today) completed the quiet board.

The practical message for fine-chemicals buyers: the specialty book is dormant and the only genuine repricing is downward and mild. Twenty-eight of 31 lines are frozen; melamine’s erosion follows urea; PTMEG retraces but is still above its month-start. The two actionable notes: first, potassium sorbate buyers should test the market aggressively — the corrected 15,100 level is 11% below October 9 and the true trajectory, stripped of the artefact, is quietly negative; second, metabisulfite’s freeze only lasts as long as the sulphur chain’s does — if sulfur renews its slide, the pass-through conversation restarts. Everything else is a hold.

Energy, Rubber, Plastic and other chemicals tracked 13 products, of which 9 moved — 3 higher against 6 lower. Polyvinyl chloride surged 3.49% to CNY 5,040/ton, WTI Crude Oil gained 3.16% to USD 98/barrel and kerosene added 1.18% to CNY 8,600/ton, while Asphalt eased 0.70% to CNY 6,100/ton, HDPE fell 0.67% to CNY 11,050/ton, ABS slipped 0.55% to CNY 12,007/ton, Gasoline dipped 0.35% to CNY 9,967/ton, Lead lost 0.12% to CNY 16,180/ton and Anthracite printed the artefact 10.0% decline to CNY 1,575/ton. Carbon at CNY 12,500/ton, Carbon Black at CNY 10,807/ton, Silica at CNY 6,367/ton and the plain PVC line at CNY 4,780/ton were unchanged.

Crude is the segment and the session (see the mover card above), so the worth-flagging item is the divergence of every domestic energy line from it: Gasoline fell 0.35% because pump prices are set by the ten-working-day formula mechanism and still carry the earlier downward adjustment window; kerosene rose 1.18% on jet-demand and export economics; and Asphalt declined for a third consecutive session, minus 0.70% to CNY 6,100/ton, as road-construction season winds into the north. Oil up, refined products down — that is refinery margin compression, not a pass-through signal, and it is the same squeeze the chemical intermediates are living through. Anthracite, once its artefact base is stripped, shows a coal market going sideways into the winter supply campaign — the level near CNY 1,575–1,605 matches October 9, and domestic coking futures still fell over 1% on the day.

The polymer complex resumed its two-speed drift, with PVC the lone riser. Outside it, the board is flat-to-soft: ABS gave back 0.55% from its mid-week extension yet remains 4.00% higher on the week, HDPE slipped 0.67% to CNY 11,050/ton (weekly plus 4.69%) while domestic plastics, PP and bottle-grade contracts all fell over 1%, and the second PVC line held flat at CNY 4,780/ton — the clearest tell that Thursday’s carbide-cost argument (calcium carbide minus 0.78% today, Wuhai trade at CNY 2,450/ton, semi-coke stable at CNY 1,030/ton) has not reversed; the PVC rebound rests entirely on maintenance schedules, loss-making supply cuts and continued de-stocking holding. The rubber chain, which broke last week, stabilised: Carbon Black unchanged at CNY 10,807/ton after a 6.49% weekly collapse, Silica unchanged at CNY 6,367/ton, while the board’s natural rubber actually rebounded 0.57% to CNY 19,241.67/ton and SBR added 0.31%. Lead edged 0.12% lower at CNY 16,180/ton and Carbon (activated carbon) held at CNY 12,500/ton.

Overall, the tape reads as three separate markets sharing one file. The energy complex is repricing higher on geopolitics that no chemical demand justified. The battery chain is repricing lower on 2027 supply mathematics that no physical present has confirmed. And in between, two-thirds of the tracked basket is frozen because neither side is willing to pay for conviction. For a week the direction has been the same: the squeeze on intermediate margins is the trade — rising energy cost, falling or flat chemical prices. Buyers should treat the flat lines as negotiation targets rather than panic items, treat PVC’s supply-led rebound as fragile while carbide keeps falling, and watch one question above all: whether the Hormuz premium finally breaks the chemical-side freeze. If it does, the flat lines are where the next repricing starts; if it does not, the artefacts aside, this is a market storing energy for someone else’s move.