EU Plastic Tax to Rise From 2028! Taekwang Group Shrinks Spandex Production Lines in China

International News Digest:

Raw Material News- EU Plastic Tax to Rise From 2028

Textile News- South Korea’s Taekwang Group Shrinks Spandex Production Lines in China

Electronic News-Freepoint and Source One Partner to Advance Plastic Waste Pretreatment Infrastructure

Packaging News-Mars Invests $250 Million in Low-Carbon Materials New Track

Toy News-Well-Known Toy Retailer Closes 69 Stores in Two Years, Last Year’s Profits Surge 80%

Macro News-Yen Edges Higher as Traders Digest Shigeru Ishiba’s Defeat in Upper House Election

Price Information-Thin film:1070-1075 USD/ton (CFR Huangpu), up 5 USD/ton.

Details of International News: 

1. EU Plastic Tax to Rise From 2028

2. Wacker Chemie Announces Layoffs!

Recently, Wacker Chemie announced a strategic layoff plan, which will affect about 90 of the nearly 650 employees at its Charleston, Tennessee production base in the United States. The decision is part of the company’s extensive restructuring plan, aiming to respond to the changing market environment and ensure the long-term sustainable development of its business.

3. South Korea’s Taekwang Group Shrinks Spandex Production Lines in China

According to sources, South Korea’s Taekwang Group recently announced that it will suspend the operation of some spandex production lines at its Chinese subsidiary Taekwang Chemical (Changshu) Co., Ltd. starting from July 14, 2025, and reassess its future strategy. This is the first time Taekwang Group has shut down spandex production lines in China. It is judged that the decision is due to the continuous large-scale expansion of Chinese competitors, slow recovery of market demand, and deteriorating profitability of local factories.

4. Freepoint and Source One Partner to Advance Plastic Waste Pretreatment Infrastructure

5. U.S.-U.K. Plastic Trade Surplus Soars to Record High

The U.S.-U.K. plastic trade surplus has remained uninterrupted for more than 25 years, and the latest data shows that this advantage continues to expand. In 2023, the U.S. plastic trade surplus with the U.K. reached $296.5 million, mainly driven by strong performance in resins ($218.1 million surplus) and plastic products ($88.2 million surplus). These advantageous industries effectively offset the relatively small deficits in plastic machinery ($2.3 million) and molds ($7.6 million).

7. Mars Invests $250 Million in Low-Carbon Materials New Track

Global food and pet care giant Mars recently announced the official launch of a $250 million sustainable development investment fund (Mars Sustainability Investment Fund, MSIF) to support its "Sustainable in a Generation Plan". The fund focuses on low-carbon innovations in agriculture, raw materials, and packaging, with particular attention to recyclable and compostable flexible packaging solutions to address the most intractable sustainable packaging challenges in the industry.

Overseas Macro Market Information:

According to sources familiar with U.S.-EU trade negotiations, U.S. officials told EU trade chiefs in the past week that they expect U.S. President Trump to demand more concessions from the EU to reach a deal, including setting a baseline tariff of 15% or higher on most European goods. "This unexpected news has upset the EU," the report said. The EU had been working to reach an agreement to keep the baseline tariff at 10%, which was already a difficult concession for some EU member states.

As Europe’s largest economy and biggest exporter, Germany had previously taken a more moderate stance on U.S. countermeasures, but the changing situation has prompted Germany to move closer to France and adopt a more confrontational position.

Informed sources revealed that EU member states are pressuring the EU’s executive body that if no deal is reached by the August 1 deadline set by the Trump administration, in addition to imposing retaliatory tariffs on goods, new strong measures will be prepared to counter U.S. companies.

Price Information:

Ethylene Asia: CFR Northeast Asia $820/tonne; CFR Southeast Asia $830/tonne.

Propylene Northeast Asia: FOB Korea average price $740/tonne; CFR China average price $770/tonne.

North Asia frozen cargo CIF price: propane $509-511/tonne; butane $479-481/tonne.

South China frozen cargo for second half of August CIF price: propane $542-552/tonne; butane $513-521/tonne.

Taiwan region frozen cargo CIF price: propane $509-511/tonne; butane $479-481/tonne.

Film: $860-900/tonne (CFR Huangpu);

Injection molding: $950/tonne (CFR Dongguan).

Film: $920/tonne (CFR Huangpu);

Hollow: $855-860/tonne (CFR Huangpu);

Pipe: $1,045/tonne (CFR Huangpu).

Film: $1,070-1,075/tonne (CFR Huangpu), up $5/tonne;

Coating: $1,350/tonne (CFR Huangpu).

Homopolymer: $965/tonne (CFR Huangpu);

Copolymer: $940-950/tonne (CFR Nansha);

Film material: $1,030/tonne (CFR Nansha);

Transparent: $1,070/tonne (CFR Huangpu), down $15/tonne;

Pipe material: $1,160/tonne (CFR Shanghai).