ExxonMobil Plans to Close UK Ethylene Plant; GPI's Revenue & Profit Both Decline! Haitian's Serbia Base Enters Mass Production

International News Guide

Raw Material News - Chemical Giant "Retreats" from Europe! ExxonMobil Announces Closure of UK Ethylene Plant

Packaging News - Packaging Giant GPI's Revenue & Profit Both Decline! CFO Jumps to Amcor; Major Market Changes Brewing

Equipment News - Haitian's Serbia Base Enters Mass Production: First Batch of Injection Molding Machines Delivered to Consolidate European Market Layout

Automotive News - CSP Introduces Ultra-Lightweight Composite Material for Automotive Body Panels

Macroeconomic News - U.S. Says Military Action Against Venezuela Not Ruled Out; China Responds

Price Information - CNY/USD Central Parity Rate Stands at 7.0872, Down 16 Pips

Details of International News

Chemical Giant "Retreats" from Europe! ExxonMobil Announces Closure of UK Ethylene Plant

According to Plastmatch on November 19, ExxonMobil has confirmed that it will permanently close its steam cracker at Mossmorran, UK, in early next year.

The move reflects the severe challenges facing Europe's petrochemical industry, including high energy, raw material and regulatory costs, weak demand, overcapacity, and competition from low-cost imports. Reports emerged in September this year that ExxonMobil planned to shut down the Mossmorran facility.

Data from S&P Global Commodity Insights shows that the Mossmorran cracker, known as the Fife Ethylene Plant (FEP), has an annual ethylene production capacity of 830,000 tons. Adjacent to Shell PLC's Fife Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) facility, the ethylene plant sources ethane feedstock from the latter. The two companies share the output of the cracker on a 50:50 basis.

2. Packaging Giant GPI's Revenue & Profit Both Decline! CFO Jumps to Amcor; Major Market Changes Brewing

Graphics Packaging International (GPI) recently released its 2025 Q3 financial report, showing that the company is facing certain market challenges.

During the reporting period, GPI's revenue was $2.19 billion, slightly lower than $2.216 billion in the same period last year. Meanwhile, net profit also declined to approximately $142 million, down from $165 million in the same period last year.

From the perspective of the first three quarters, the downward trend is more obvious. GPI's total revenue for the first three quarters was $6.514 billion, lower than $6.712 billion in the same period last year; net profit was $373 million, a significant decrease compared with $520 million in the same period last year.

Mike Dossey, CEO of GPI, explained some of the reasons for the performance decline during the earnings call on Tuesday. He pointed out that although some of the company's customers launched promotional activities, due to continued weak consumer spending, these activities failed to effectively boost overall sales, leading to a 2% year-on-year decline in the company's packaging sales in the third quarter.

In addition, customer order flow has become more unpredictable. Dossey revealed that this is because "we are seeing more consumer goods customers adjusting their purchasing timelines to manage cash flow," making customer order flow in the third quarter more difficult to control.

Regarding management changes, Dossey also announced the upcoming departure of Chief Financial Officer Steve Scherger, who will take up the position of CFO at Amcor. Chuck Lischer will be appointed interim CFO.

3. Haitian's Serbia Base Enters Mass Production: First Batch of Injection Molding Machines Delivered to Consolidate European Market Layout

The construction of Haitian's new production base in Ruma, Serbia, has entered a new phase, with an internal open day event held for employees and core partners.

As a core part of Haitian's European strategy, the base will provide localized equipment manufacturing, optimized logistics services, R&D support, and long-term growth momentum. Production this year will focus on injection molding machines, centering on two model series — the Mars series (servo-hydraulic toggle injection molding machines) and the Jupiter series (servo-hydraulic two-platen injection molding machines).

To date, more than 50 units of various equipment have been produced, and the first batch of products has been delivered.

4. CSP Introduces Ultra-Lightweight Composite Material for Automotive Body Panels

CSP's Advanced Materials team has launched a new ultra-lightweight composite material for automotive body panel applications.

Named TCA Float™, this material has a specific gravity (SpG) of less than 1.0, making it the first material of its kind on the market to achieve this, while offering an excellent and truly paintable Class A surface. TCA Float is 23% lighter than CSP's award-winning TCA Ultra Lite®.

Due to its similar strength to TCA Ultra Lite, TCA Float can directly replace existing designs and applications — without modifying existing tools or manufacturing processes — while maintaining the excellent surface quality and paintability required by OEM customers. For comparison, 24 body panels of current production vehicles are molded using TCA Ultra Lite. If these 24 panels are switched to TCA Float molding, the weight can be reduced by more than 24 kilograms.

The ultra-low density of the material is achieved while maintaining key mechanical properties, coating adhesion, and bonding strength of the composite material.

5. TotalEnergies Fined €115.8 Million in Corsican Fuel Cartel Case, Threatens to Exit Market

According to Plastmatch on November 19, France's Competition Authority (FCA) imposed a total collective fine of €187.5 million on TotalEnergies, Rubis, and EG Retail for reaching an anti-competitive agreement in the Corsican road fuel market.

The FCA fined four companies — TotalEnergies Marketing France (TEMF), two companies under the Rubis Group, and EG Retail — a total of €187.5 million for agreeing to anti-competitive practices in the supply and distribution of road fuel in Corsica.

The decision, announced on November 17, followed a four-year investigation and a complaint from a local distributor. TotalEnergies Marketing France bore the largest share of the fine, being penalized €115.8 million for its role in the cartel. Rubis was fined €64.7 million, and EG Retail €7 million.

6. North American Polystyrene Recycling Alliance Partners with Brave Industries to Expand Polystyrene Recycling and Processing

Recently, the Polystyrene Recycling Alliance (PSRA) — a North American alliance dedicated to promoting recycling solutions for polystyrene (PS) and expanded polystyrene (EPS) — officially announced a strategic partnership with Brave Industries, a national alliance of independent recyclers in the United States.

The two parties will jointly promote the construction of a full-category polystyrene recycling system, injecting new momentum into building a sustainable plastic circular economy. This cooperation focuses on two core goals: first, expanding the recycling scope of polystyrene materials to cover all categories of polystyrene, including rigid non-foam applications (such as HIPS/GPPS) and foam forms (such as EPS/XPS); second, building a complete recycling chain from collection and processing to end-market applications, ensuring that recycled materials can be stably supplied to responsible end markets for the production of various new products.

7. Clariant Catalysts to Support Europe's First Waste-to-Methanol Plant "Ecoplanta" Project

Clariant, a specialty chemicals company focused on sustainability, announced today that it will cooperate with Repsol to advance the latter's innovative methanol plant project in El Morell, near Tarragona, Spain.

Named Ecoplanta, this project will be the first in Europe to convert municipal solid waste into renewable methanol. The plant will adopt Enerkem's advanced waste gasification technology and use Clariant's range of syngas purification catalysts as well as the high-activity MegaMax™ methanol synthesis catalyst.

Scheduled for completion in 2029, the plant will process 400,000 tons of non-recyclable solid municipal waste annually and produce 240,000 tons of methanol per year.

Overseas Macroeconomic Market

【What Further Countermeasures Will China Take If Japan Refuses to Withdraw? MOFA Responds】

At the regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 19th, a reporter asked: China stated that if Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi does not withdraw her remarks, China will take further countermeasures. At this stage, what specific further measures may China take?

In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said: I have just introduced China's position. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's wrong remarks involving Taiwan have damaged the political foundation of China-Japan relations, and China has reason to respond. Japan should first withdraw its wrong remarks and take practical actions to safeguard the political foundation of China-Japan relations; otherwise, China will have to take further measures.

【U.S. Says Military Action Against Venezuela Not Ruled Out; China Responds】

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning hosted a regular press conference. A reporter asked: According to reports, U.S. Defense Secretary Hegseth announced the launch of "Operation Southern Spear" aimed at eliminating "drug terrorists" in the Western Hemisphere. The U.S. State Department recently designated the so-called "Maduro-led" Cartel of the Suns as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization," which will take effect on the 24th of this month. The U.S. side also stated that military action against Venezuela is not ruled out. What is China's comment on this?

Mao Ning said: China firmly supports the "Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace" issued by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in 2014, opposes any act that violates the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and infringes upon the sovereignty and security of other countries, and opposes external forces interfering in Venezuela's internal affairs under any pretext. It is hoped that the U.S. side will carry out normal law enforcement and judicial cooperation through bilateral and multilateral legal frameworks and do more things conducive to peace and stability in Latin America and the Caribbean region.

【BOE Technology and Samsung Display Reach Settlement on OLED Intellectual Property Litigation, Will Withdraw All Lawsuits】

Reporters learned that after multiple rounds of communication and negotiation, BOE Technology and Samsung Display have reached a settlement on disputes over intellectual property rights in the display field, and have submitted a joint application to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) to suspend and terminate the investigation. They will withdraw the U.S. 337 investigation and other related cases as soon as possible.

【Japanese Tourism Industry Insiders: Takaichi's Wrong Remarks Involving Taiwan Drag Down Economy】

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's wrong remarks involving Taiwan have recently aroused widespread concern among Japanese political and business circles. Japanese tourism industry insiders pointed out that the tension in China-Japan relations will lead to a sharp drop in the number of tourists visiting Japan, which will not only deal a heavy blow to Japan's tourism industry but also further drag down the fragile Japanese economy.

【Drewry: Intra-Asia Container Freight Index Rises 24% in Mid-November】

According to the latest data from Drewry, the Drewry Intra-Asia Container Index (IACI) rose 24% in the first half of November, closing at $630/FEU. After the National Day holiday, seasonal demand fell. To boost freight rates, liner companies adopted measures such as blank sailings; freight rate performance also showed differentiation. The freight rate on the Shanghai-Jakarta and Surabaya routes has risen to the highest level since late July, while the Shanghai-Manila route has fallen to a historic low.

Price Information

The CNY/USD central parity rate was reported at 7.0872, a decrease of 16 pips; the central parity rate of the previous trading day was 7.0856, the official closing price of the previous trading day was 7.1125, and the night session closing price of the previous day was 7.1074.

【Upstream Raw Material USD Market Prices】

Ethylene Asia: CFR Northeast Asia USD 730/ton; CFR Southeast Asia USD 720/ton.

Propylene Northeast Asia: FOB South Korea average USD 695/ton; CFR China average USD 725/ton.

North Asia refrigerated cargo CIF price: Propane USD 520-522/ton; Butane USD 546-548/ton.

South China (China) refrigerated cargo CIF price for early December: Propane USD 563-573/ton; Butane USD 553-563/ton.

Taiwan region refrigerated cargo CIF price: Propane USD 520-522/ton; Butane USD 546-548/ton.

【LLDPE USD Market Prices】

Film: USD 835-855/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Injection Molding: USD 935/ton (CFR Huangpu).

【HDPE USD Market Prices】

Film: USD 830-905/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Injection Molding: USD 800-830/ton (CFR Huangpu) [Note: Corrected the obvious typo "800-30" to "800-830"];

Blow Molding (Hollow): USD 830/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Pipes: USD 1000/ton (CFR Huangpu).

【LDPE USD Market Prices】

Film: USD 1000-1050/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Coating: USD 1280/ton (CFR Huangpu).

【PP USD Market Prices】

Injection Molding: USD 800/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Copolymer: USD 820-860/ton (CFR Nansha);

Film Grade: USD 975/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Transparent Grade: USD 1065/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Pipes: USD 1100/ton (CFR Shanghai).