【Global News】$375 Million! Eastman loses $375M DOE grant, BASF launches €6B sale of coatings business

International News Digest:

Raw Material News-Eastman loses $375M DOE grant for Texas plastics recycling facility；

Auto News-Asahi Kasei launches new series of Sunfort™ dry film photoresist；

Packaging News- KHS Partnership with Husky to launch lightweight PET bottle ；

Macro News-Institution: The growth rate of the global smartphone market has declined for three consecutive quarters.；

Price information-The central parity rate of the RMB against the US dollar was reported at 7.1869, up 21 points.。

The following is an international news update:

1. Eastman loses $375M DOE grant for Texas plastics recycling facility；

2. KHS Partnership with Husky to launch lightweight PET bottle

3. Sulzer to supply proprietary equipment to Emirates Biotech for PLA facility in UAE

4. Asahi Kasei Launches New Sunfort™ Dry Film Photoresist Series

According to foreign media reports, Asahi Kasei Corporation (Asahi Kasei has developed the Sunfort™ dry film photoresist TA series, aimed at meeting the growing demand in the advanced semiconductor packaging field for applications such as artificial intelligence (AI) servers. This product is positioned as a strategic product within Asahi Kasei's materials division, aiming to enhance its influence in the rapidly growing next-generation chip packaging market. The dry film utilizes traditional step exposure systems and laser direct imaging (LDI) systems, providing ultra-high resolution that helps transfer circuit patterns onto substrates during the packaging process, thereby improving the performance and precision of back-end processes. 

5. BASF launches €6B sale of coatings business

6. EUROPEN launches interactive guidebook to help businesses navigate EU PPWR

The following is overseas macro market information:

Overseas macro market information:

【Minutes of the Federal Reserve 's May Monetary Policy Meeting.】 tend to act cautiously and predictably in terms of policy easing. He believes that it is not the time to shift policy to an expansionary stance. The policy is in a favorable position and can respond decisively when necessary. Lowering the cash rate is an appropriate response to global risks. The reason for the interest rate cut of 25 basis points is higher than that of 50 basis points. He believes that policy is ' somewhat restrictive ' at the current interest rate level.

【Goldman Sachs : Aluminium prices may fall to $ 2,100 a tonne due to accelerating Indonesian supply.】 Goldman Sachs said it expects aluminium prices to fall to a low of $ 2,100 a tonne by early 2026, a level that would suspend overinvestment in Indonesian smelting capacity. Three 500,000 tonnes smelters in Indonesia will be operational by mid-2026, earlier than expected, according to Goldman Sachs. The increase in production will lead to a million tons of excess supply in 2026, the largest excess since 2020.

【Bank of Japan Governor 's dovish remarks push the yen lower in early trading.】The yen weakened against most other G10 and Asian currencies in early trading due to dovish signs of earlier remarks by Bank of Japan Governor Takeda and Masahiro. Ueda said that uncertainty, including the prospect of trade policy, is still high, and this uncertainty may continue even if the tariffs are determined. The Bank of Japan will not pre-set interest rate policy, nor will it promote interest rate hikes in order to make room for future interest rate cuts. The US dollar rose 0.3 % against the Japanese yen in early trading, the euro rose 0.1 % against the Japanese yen, and the New York dollar rose 0.2 % against the Japanese yen.

【Institution: The growth rate of the global smartphone market has declined for three consecutive quarters.】 The latest research from Canalys shows that in the first quarter of 2025, the global smartphone market achieved only 0.2% growth, with shipments reaching 296.9 million units. As the phased peak of device replacements comes to an end and manufacturers seek healthier inventory levels, the growth rate of the global smartphone market has declined for three consecutive quarters. Samsung ranked first, with shipments reaching 60.5 million units; Apple ranked second, with shipments of 55 million units, capturing a 19% market share; Xiaomi remained in third place, with shipments of 41.8 million units and a market share of 14%. Vivo and OPPO ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, with shipments of 22.9 million units and 22.7 million units.

【Trump says Iran will not be allowed to conduct any uranium enrichment activities.】According to U.S. media reports on June 2, U.S. Middle East envoy Wittekov proposed a new plan regarding the Iran nuclear issue on May 31, which would allow Iran to conduct limited low-concentration uranium enrichment activities for a certain period of time. However, U.S. President Trump later denied this statement, stating that no uranium enrichment activities would be allowed for Iran.

【Japan 's 10-year bond auction is in hot demand, and Thursday 's 30-year auction is the next test.】 In this JPY 2.6 trillion 10-year bond auction, the bidding multiple jumped from 2.54 last month to 3.66, far exceeding the average level of the past year. Investors pay close attention to Thursday 's 30-year auction, which will determine whether the market is ready to meet the pain of normalization after the Bank of Japan withdraws from the ultra-loose policy.

【OECD once again lowered its global economic growth forecast, which is expected to be 2.9 % this year and next. 】 OECD lowered its global economic growth forecast for 2025 from 3.1 % to 2.9 %. The forecast for global economic growth in 2026 is lowered from 3 % to 2.9 %. The U.S. economic growth forecast for 2025 was lowered from 2.2 % to 1.6 %. Japan 's economy is expected to grow by 0.7 % in 2025 and 0.4 % in 2026. The UK 's economy is expected to grow by 1.3 % in 2025 and 1 % in 2026. Germany 's economy is expected to grow by 0.4 % in 2025 and 1.2 % in 2026. OECD said that easing trade tensions is the focus of global policy. Protectionism exacerbates inflationary pressure.

The OECD stated that easing trade tensions is a global policy priority. Protectionism has exacerbated inflationary pressures.

Price Information:

【Central parity rate of RMB vs USD】

The RMB's central parity rate against the US dollar is set at7.1869, up by 21 points; the previous trading day's midpoint was 7.1848, the previous trading day's official closing price was 7.1991, and the overnight session closed at 7.1972.

【Upstream raw material USD market prices】

Ethylene Asia:CFR Northeast Asia $780/ton; CFR Southeast Asia $850/ton.

Propylene Northeast Asia:The average FOB price in South Korea is 745 USD/ton, down 5 USD/ton; the average CFR price in China is 775 USD/ton, down 10 USD/ton.

North Asia frozen cargo CIF, Propane550-552 USD/ton; Butane 520-522 USD/ton.

South China frozen goods CIF prices in early July: Propane at $602-612/ton; Butane at $537-547/ton.

Taiwan region frozen cargo landed price, propane550-552 USD/ton; butane 520-522 USD/ton.

【LLDPE USD market price】

Film:$875/ton (CFR Huangpu), down $5/ton.

Injection molding:USD 970/ton (CFR Dongguan)

【HDPE USD market price】

Thin film:$900-920/ton (CFR Huangpu), down $5/ton.

Hollow:865-870 USD/ton (CFR Huangpu);

【LDPE USD market price】

Film: (Note: The word "" translates directly to "film" in English, but without additional context, it's not clear if this is referring to a specific type of film or if there should be more to the sentence. Therefore, only "Film" is provided as a direct translation.) 1025-1035 USD/ton (CFR Huangpu), down by 5 USD/ton;

【PP USD market price】

Uniform aggregation:$890-950/ton (CFR Huangpu), down $15/ton.

Copolymerization:955-1060 USD/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Membrane material:1025-1090 USD/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Transparent: USD 1085/ton (CFR Huangpu), down USD 10/ton.

Pipes:1160 USD/ton (CFR Shanghai).