Four Major Chemical New Material Giants Sell Off and Shut Down Again!

Recently, several global chemical and new materials giants have announced related business adjustment decisions.

First, Japan's Ube Industries is laying off employees and withdrawing from its Thailand base one year ahead of schedule.

Previous reports stated that in January this year, Ube announced adjustments to its bases in Japan, Thailand, and Spain, mainly due to declining profitability of these products, high greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and an oversupply from companies in other countries.

In Japan, production of ammonia and related products will cease in March 2028. The production of caprolactam (the remaining key production line) and nylon polymers, including the raw material cyclohexanone, will stop in March 2027. In Thailand, by March 2027, Ube Industries (Asia) (UCHA) will halt production of cyclohexanone, caprolactam, and ammonium sulfate, and will shut down one of its two nylon polymer production lines. Ube Fine Chemicals (Asia) (UFA) will discontinue production of 1,6-hexanediol and 1,5-pentanediol or by-products of cyclohexanone.

However, due to the continued sluggish business environment, coordination with relevant stakeholders may lead to the early implementation of structural reforms. Therefore, the company has decided to advance the downsizing and withdrawal to March 2026, one year earlier.

Currently, Ube Industries is actively investing in the expansion of its specialty chemicals business, including polyimides, separation membranes, ceramics, semiconductor gases, separators, composite materials, C1 chemicals, high-performance coatings, pharmaceuticals, and phenolic resins. At the same time, the company is downsizing, withdrawing from, or adjusting its basic businesses, including nylon polymers, caprolactam, ammonium sulfate, industrial chemicals, elastomers, polyethylene films, and processed resins.

In April this year, the company completed the acquisition of Lanxess' polyurethane systems business in Germany, with a transaction amount of approximately 500 million euros. However, the business did not perform well in the first quarter, with sales declining 17.4% year-on-year to 3.2 billion yen and an operating loss of 400 million yen.

In the first quarter of 2025 (April to June), Ube Industries' sales amounted to 100.5 billion yen (approximately 682 million USD), down 12.9% compared to 115.4 billion yen in the same period last year. Meanwhile, operating profit was 6.2 billion yen, also decreasing by 10.8% year on year.

Secondly, ExxonMobil is selling its European business.

Recently, according to insiders, ExxonMobil is considering selling its European chemical plants located in the UK and Belgium. This move is prompted by multiple pressures, including the impact of U.S. tariff policies on global trade, intensified competition from low-priced imports from Asia, and the ongoing effects on the European chemical industry from the 2022 energy crisis.

The report states that the transaction amount may reach 1 billion USD, involving specific assets such as the ethylene plant in Fife, Scotland, and multiple production sites in Belgium. Besides selling, the company has also discussed the option of directly closing these plants. However, whether the deal can be finalized is still uncertain, and ExxonMobil retains the right to keep the assets.

For similar reasons, in 2024, ExxonMobil decided to permanently close its chemical plant in Gravenchon, France, involving polyethylene, polypropylene, and adhesive units, as well as logistics operations, resulting in the loss of 677 jobs. The actual layoff plan is set to begin in 2025.

ExxonMobil officially responded to the aforementioned sale by stating that they "do not comment on rumors or speculation," but such information has become quite common. After all, many chemical giants, including BASF, INEOS, Dow, LyondellBasell, and SABIC, have already scaled back their operations in Europe.

In the first half of 2025, ExxonMobil reported revenue of $164.64 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 6.5%, and net profit of $14.795 billion, down 15% year-on-year. All of the world's six major oil giants—including Saudi Aramco, ExxonMobil, Shell, TotalEnergies, Chevron, and BP—experienced declines to varying degrees, with Chevron's net profit plummeting by 32%, the largest drop among them.

Korean SK Group plans to sell overseas businesses.

On August 26, according to the Korea Economic Daily, SK Group is accelerating its restructuring to acquire new funds. Its subsidiary, SK Innovation (SKI), is planning to sell its overseas businesses through a bundled transaction. This mainly includes the Dow Ethylene Acrylic Acid (EAA) and Polyvinylidene Chloride (PVDC) businesses acquired in 2017 for $370 million, and the Arkema Functional Polyolefins business acquired in 2020 for $317 million.

The main reasons for the sale include post-pandemic oversupply, intensified competition from China, difficulties in integration leading to a downward trend, the industry's continued downturn, and electric vehicle demand falling short of expectations, prompting the company to expedite restructuring efforts.

SK Group is one of South Korea's largest integrated energy and chemical companies, and the country's second-largest conglomerate, focusing on three main industries: energy and chemicals, information and communications semiconductor, and marketing services. It has several well-known subsidiaries, including SK Innovation, which merged with SK E&S (initially engaged in refining business, now expanded into petrochemicals, lubricants, battery manufacturing, and other fields), SK Geo Centric (specializing in high-performance polymers and eco-friendly materials such as biodegradable plastic PBAT and chemical recycling of plastics), and SK Hynix (a global leader in memory chips).

Finally, Dow Chemical sells subsidiary equity.

Recently, Dow Chemical sold an additional stake in its infrastructure joint venture, Diamond Infrastructure Solutions, to its partner Macquarie Asset Management, valued at $540 million.

Dow Chemical reportedly sold 40% of the equity in certain Gulf Coast infrastructure assets in the United States to a Macquarie-backed fund for $2.4 billion. This includes non-product production assets such as power and steam generation facilities and pipelines.

By selling these infrastructure assets, Dow can not only obtain considerable cash flow but also alleviate the burden of operations and maintenance, allowing it to allocate more resources to research and development innovation, enhancing product competitiveness, and other core areas.

On June 2, Dow also announced the sale of its 50% stake in the joint venture DowAksa to its partner, Turkish company Aksa. Additionally, on July 7, Dow announced that its board of directors had approved the closure of three upstream assets in Europe to address the structural challenges faced in the region and optimize profitability.

In the second quarter of 2025, Dow Chemical's net sales were $10.1 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 7%, with a GAAP net loss of $801 million.