India's Q3 Smartphone Shipments Rise 3%; Japanese Mold Factory Closures Surge; Mercedes-Benz Cuts 4,000 Jobs

International News Guide

Raw Material News - LyondellBasell Expands Recycling R&D Capacity in Frankfurt

Automotive News - Auto Industry Giant Reported to Cut 4,000 Jobs with N+11 Severance Package

Electronics & Electrical News - Agency: India's Q3 Smartphone Shipments Grow 3%

Medical News - MCC Initiates Research to Advance Antithrombogenic TPE for Medical Device Use

Macroeconomic News - Trump Says He Will Visit China in Early Next Year; Ministry of Foreign Affairs Responds

Price Information - CNY/USD Central Parity Rate Stands at 7.0930, Up 43 Pips

Details of International News

1.LyondellBasell Expands Recycling R&D Capacity in Frankfurt

LyondellBasell is enhancing its standards for mechanically recycled materials through major investments in R&D capabilities at its Innovation Center in Frankfurt, where the company is strengthening efforts to develop advanced sorting, decontamination and compounding technologies as well as advanced analytics of post-consumer recyclates under near industrial conditions.

2.Auto Industry Giant Reported to Cut 4,000 Jobs with N+11 Severance Package

Recent reports indicate that Mercedes-Benz is implementing its “largest-ever” layoff plan: as of October 20, approximately 4,000 employees have left the company after accepting the severance package. Among them, senior managers are eligible for a maximum severance payment of €500,000 (approximately RMB 4.15 million).

This transformation plan, which started in April this year, has opened application channels to approximately 40,000 employees. Surprisingly, although Mercedes-Benz employees originally had job security until 2034, the company successfully persuaded a large number of engineers, administrative staff, and IT personnel to resign voluntarily through a highly attractive financial compensation package.

3.Agency: India's Q3 Smartphone Shipments Grow 3%

Market research firm Omdia released a report on Tuesday stating that India's smartphone market grew by 3% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2025, with shipments reaching 48.4 million units.

Traders have stocked up on new products in channels in anticipation of strong demand during the festival season. The drivers behind this moderate growth include a wave of new product launches in July and August, retail incentives, and the early arrival of Diwali, which boosted inventory flow.

vivo (excluding iQOO) expanded its leading position in the market with 9.7 million units shipped, accounting for 20% of the market share. Samsung ranked second with 6.8 million units (14% market share), followed closely by Xiaomi in third place. Xiaomi narrowly surpassed OPPO (excluding OnePlus), with both suppliers shipping 6.5 million units each.

Apple returned to the top five with 4.9 million units shipped, and its incremental growth was driven by small and medium-sized cities.

4.MCC Initiates Research to Advance Antithrombogenic TPE for Medical Device Use

Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation has initiated a collaborative research project in partnership with Professor Masaru Tanaka of the Institute for Materials Chemistry and Engineering, Kyushu Univ., focusing on application of their antithrombogenic thermoplastic elastomer ‘ZELAS™ AMP’ to medical devices. Through this Joint Research, MCC aims for market launch of ZELAS™ AMP in 2027 and its global expansion.

5.Japanese Mold Factory Closures Surge: Supply Chain Crisis Looms

According to statistics from Teikoku Databank (TDB), from January to September 2025, the total number of Japanese mold manufacturing enterprises that closed down, suspended operations, or dissolved reached 126 (36 closed down, 90 suspended or dissolved), hitting the highest level in nearly a decade.

This means that the mold sector, which supports Japan's core industrial chains such as automobiles and electronic components, is collapsing at a visible rate. At the same time, the total number of corporate closures across the industry continues to rise—with the first half of 2025 (April-September) already reaching the highest level in nearly 12 years. Labor shortages, high costs, and rising energy prices have become common stressors.

Molds are known as “invisible infrastructure.” They determine the precision, tolerance, texture, and production yield of components. If the mold sector collapses, the flexibility and mass production responsiveness of the entire supply chain will be lost. Enterprises will have to rely on overseas suppliers, further weakening the resilience of Japan's domestic manufacturing industry.

6.RMB 8.459 Billion! Orlen Group Plans to Acquire Polish Chemical Company Grupa Azoty

Grupa Azoty has received a non-binding offer from Orlen Group to acquire shares in Grupa Azoty Polyolefins S.A.

The offer plans to acquire all shares of the company, including all its assets, free of any encumbrances, based on a “cash-free, debt-free” basis. The total value of this offer amounts to €1.022 billion, which includes necessary funds provided by Orlen Group—for restructuring all outstanding debts and claims, as well as acquiring all shares held by other shareholders of Grupa Azoty Polyolefins (GA Polyolefins).

7.LYB Launches PP Impact Copolymer for High-Performance Applications

LyondellBasell has launched Pro-Fax® EP648R, a new type of polypropylene impact copolymer designed to meet the challenging performance requirements of various industries.

Pro-Fax® EP648R achieves an optimal balance between impact resistance and stiffness, making it an ideal choice for high-performance injection-molded products such as garden furniture, crates, drums, bottle caps and closures, and thin-walled packaging.

This new grade uses advanced nucleation technology to enhance stiffness without sacrificing toughness, providing a mechanical profile that is comparable to or exceeds top market alternatives. It also contains an antistatic additive that facilitates easy part ejection during molding. When used in conjunction with the resin's advanced nucleation, it saves processors time and money due to high-speed cycle times.


Overseas Macroeconomic Market

【Trump Says He Will Visit China in Early Next Year; Ministry of Foreign Affairs Responds】

Regarding questions related to head-of-state diplomacy, Guo Jiakun emphasized that head-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable strategic leading role in China-U.S. relations, and the heads of state of China and the U.S. maintain close communication and exchanges. “Regarding the specific issue you mentioned, I have no information to provide at present,” said Guo Jiakun.

【Report: BOJ Officials See No Urgency to Hike Interest Rates Next Week】

According to people familiar with the matter, although Japan's economy is making progress toward its price target, Bank of Japan (BOJ) officials believe there is no urgency to raise the benchmark interest rate next week.

The people familiar with the matter stated that as the development of the economy and inflation is generally in line with the BOJ's expectations, the possibility of achieving its outlook has been gradually increasing. While the BOJ does not rule out the possibility of another interest rate hike before the end of this year, so far, there are no decisive factors that make them believe it is necessary to raise the benchmark interest rate when formulating policies next week (October 30).

【Bank of Canada Survey Shows: Businesses Cannot Shake Off Pessimism About Trade】

Bank of Canada: The Q3 Business Outlook Indicator rose to -2.3, from the previous value of -2.4.

Businesses' one-year CPI expectations are slightly higher than the 2024 level.

Most businesses do not plan to expand recruitment in the next year.

Businesses expect costs to rise, while weak demand will limit price increases.

The steel and aluminum industries said that tariffs (imposed by U.S. President Trump) have caused severe layoffs.

Two-thirds of surveyed consumers expect Canada to experience an economic recession in the next year.

Consumers' short-term CPI expectations are higher than the level before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Consumers expect significant auto inflation in the next year.


Price Information

【 The central parity rate of CNY against USD】

The central parity rate of CNY against USD was reported at 7.0930, an increase of 43 pips; the central parity rate of the previous trading day was 7.0973, the official closing price of the previous trading day was 7.1231, and the night session closing price of the previous day was 7.1230.

【Upstream Raw Material USD Market Prices】

Ethylene Asia: CFR Northeast Asia USD 780/ton; CFR Southeast Asia USD 770/ton.

Propylene Northeast Asia: FOB South Korea average USD 750/ton; CFR China average USD 775/ton.

North Asia refrigerated cargo CIF price: Propane USD 446-447/ton; Butane USD 482-483/ton.

South China (China) refrigerated cargo CIF price for early November: Propane USD 522-532/ton; Butane USD 522-532/ton.

Taiwan region refrigerated cargo CIF price: Propane USD 446-447/ton; Butane USD 482-483/ton.

【LLDPE USD Market Prices】

Film: USD 830-890/ton (CFR Huangpu);

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

【HDPE USD Market Prices】

Film: USD 870-900/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Blow Molding (Hollow): USD 850/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Injection Molding: USD 850/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Pipes: USD 1010/ton (CFR Huangpu).

【LDPE USD Market Prices】

Film: USD 1050-1095/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Coating: USD 1100-1280/ton (CFR Huangpu).

【PP USD Market Prices】

Injection Molding: USD 840-915/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Copolymer: USD 850-870/ton (CFR Nansha);

Film Grade: USD 1020/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Transparent Grade: USD 1000-1125/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Pipes: USD 1100/ton (CFR Shanghai).