Pakistan opens transit corridor for goods from multiple countries; explosion at japanese pharmaceutical plant leaves five injured, two seriously

International News Digest:

Raw Materials News – Pakistan Announces Permission for Third-Country Goods to Transit Through Its Territory to Iran, Opening Six Routes

Medical News: Mitsubishi Chemical's ZELAS™ TPS Material Adopted by Sanplatec for Cell Culture Tubes

Adjuvant News - Clariant and the People's Government of Wutongqiao District, Leshan City, signed an investment agreement for an innovative high-performance flame retardant project

Automotive News: Adient acquires a U.S. automotive seat foam plant in Michigan from Woodbridge.

Macro information - Media reports say Trump will hear new plans to strike Iran, with targets likelyably including Iran's infrastructure.

Price Information - The central parity rate of the RMB against the US dollar is 6.8628, down 20 basis points.

The following is the detailed international news:

Pakistan announces: Third-country goods allowed to be transported through its territory to Iran, six routes to be opened

According to Pakistan's Dawn News, citing a statement from Pakistan's Ministry of Commerce,Pakistan has decided to allow goods from third countries to be transshipped through its territory to Iran., with the aim of expanding cross-border trade.

The Ministry of Commerce of Pakistan has issued the "Transit of Goods through Territory of Pakistan Order 2026" announcement.Any third country may use Pakistan's land route to export goods to Iran, and this regulation takes effect immediately.。

To implement this decision, the Pakistani government, based on the 2008 Pakistan-Iran Bilateral Agreement on International Road Passenger and Cargo Transport, revised the 1950 Import-Export Control Act, thereby providing a legal basis for the transit agreement.

This order applies to goods not produced in Pakistan, shipped from a third country, transiting through Pakistani territory, and destined for designated locations in Iran.

Mitsubishi Chemical’s ZELAS™ TPS material adopted by SANPLATEC cell culture tubes from Sartorius.

Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation announced thatZELAS™ TPSThe material has been developed by SANPLATEC CORPORATION.iP-TEC® SeriesCell culture tubes are used.

Mitsubishi Chemical introduces ZELAS™ TPS, a product specifically designed for medical applications.Styrenic thermoplastic elastomerIt combines the elasticity of rubber with excellent processability, and has been applied in medical device tubing and pharmaceutical packaging fields. Internal company assessments have shown that ZELAS™ TPS has better induced pluripotent stem cell (iPS cell) proliferation performance compared to polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in regenerative medicine applications.

The material has also passedHigh-pressure steam sterilization、25 kGy gamma irradiation sterilizationCompatibility testing, along with excellent heat-sealing performance — these are the core requirements for closed-cell culture systems. It is these characteristics that have enabled the iPS-TEC to be selected by Sanbo Tech.^®Cell Culture and Transportation Solutions

Evonik signs major cooperation agreement to provide membrane technology for biogas upgrading projects in Asia

A global chemical company, Evonik, has recently signed a large-scale cooperation agreement with MTC Orec Sdn Bhd (MTCO), a renowned biogas purification system developer in Malaysia, to provide SEPURAN® Green biogas purification membrane products and related patent technologies, supporting its further expansion of biogas purification projects in Asia.

MTCO, co-held and managed by the Malaysian state-owned entity VentureTECH, is a leading local company in the design and construction of biogas purification facilities.

Clariant and the People’s Government of Wutongqiao District, Leshan City signed an investment agreement for an innovative high-performance flame retardant project.

On April 28, Clariant and the People's Government of Wutongqiao District, Leshan City, officially signed an investment agreement for the "Innovative High-Performance Flame Retardants Project" at Clariant's One Clariant Campus (OCC). Leaders from Leshan City, Wutongqiao District, and relevant municipal departments, as well as representatives from Clariant and Fuhua Tongda Chemicals Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Fuhua") attended the signing ceremony.

Pursuant to the agreement, the joint venture project will leverage Clariant’s and Fuhua’s jointly developed innovative technology to develop a new generation of high-performance phosphorus-based, halogen-free flame retardants, providing efficient, safe, and sustainable flame-retardant solutions for multiple industries, including construction and building materials, automotive, and electronics & electrical.

Adient acquired a automotive seat foam plant in Michigan, USA, from Woodbridge.

Adient, a global leader in automotive seating, announced it has acquired a foam manufacturing facility in Romulus, Michigan, further expanding its business footprint.

The factory produces seat foam for multiple automotive manufacturer customers. This acquisition will increase Aptiv's number of foam manufacturing plants in North America to 10. Aptiv has 30 foam manufacturing plants worldwide.

Five injured! Explosion at a pharmaceutical plant's storage tank!

According to Kyodo News, at around 11:35 a.m. local time on the 28th, authorities in Mihara City, Hiroshima Prefecture received a report of a "tank explosion" at a pharmaceutical factory. The fire department stated that five people were injured and taken to the hospital, with two suffering more serious injuries.

According to the report by NHK, the fire department has dispatched 8 fire trucks to the scene. The footage from the scene shows multiple facilities resembling storage tanks within the factory, with two of them on fire.

Overseas macro market:

South Korea will begin piloting 24-hour foreign exchange trading from the end of June.

The South Korean Ministry of Finance said in a statement that South Korea will start a trial of 24-hour foreign exchange trading from the end of June. The country previously planned to launch 24-hour foreign exchange trading in July. It will provide 24-hour foreign exchange trading from 6:00 am on Monday to 6:00 am on Saturday, following the global foreign exchange market practices. In U.S. winter time, it will be from 7:00 am on Monday to 7:00 am on Saturday. The Bank of Korea's IT system testing for the offshore won settlement system will begin in June, and the system will be operational in 2027.

[US Military Plans to Strike Iran with Hypersonic Missiles in First Combat Deployment]

According to a Bloomberg report on the 29th, the U.S. Central Command has submitted a request to deploy the “Dark Eagle” hypersonic missile to the Middle East. If approved, this would mark the first deployment of a U.S. hypersonic missile in actual combat, potentially targeting ballistic missile launch facilities deep inside Iran.

[National Development and Reform Commission: 91.5 billion yuan of super-long-term special treasury bonds for equipment upgrading funds in the second batch of 2026 have been allocated]

According to the National Development and Reform Commission, the second batch of RMB 91.5 billion for "Two New" equipment upgrades in 2026 The funding allocation and project list have already been issued. Combined with the previously allocated RMB 93.6 billion, a total of RMB 185.1 billion has been allocated this year for the "Two New" equipment renewal program, accounting for 92% of the full-year allocation of RMB 200 billion.

Media reports state that Trump will hear a new plan to strike Iran, with potential targets likely including Iran’s infrastructure.

According to Reuters, citing U.S. news website Axios, the U.S. military will brief President Donald Trump on the latest options for striking Iran on Thursday. The report says that the U.S. Central Command has prepared a new plan to launch a "rapid and powerful" attack on Iran, with potential targets likelycluding Iranian infrastructure.

[U.S. Media: U.S. Government Seeks to “Seize” Two Oil Tankers Linked to Iran]

Price Information:

The central parity rate of the RMB against the US dollar is 6.8628, down 20 points; the central parity rate of the previous trading day was 6.8608, the official closing price of the previous trading day was 6.8329, and the closing price of the overnight session was 6.8430.

Upstream Raw Material USD Market Price

Ethylene CFR Northeast Asia dropped $5/ton to $1,320/ton, while CFR Southeast Asia fell $30/ton to $1,350/ton.

China South China import price for liquefied petroleum gas in May: Propane 985-995 USD/ton; Butane 1085-1095 USD/ton.

Free on board price in Taiwan, propane 872-882 USD/ton; butane 1022-1032 USD/ton.

LLDPE USD price market

Film: USD 1,350/ton (CFR Huangpu)

Film: 1400 USD/ton (CFR Huangpu)