SK Group Plans to Sell Stakes in Sinopec-SK! ExxonMobil Suspends European Plastic Recycling Project

International News Roundup:

Raw Material News: ExxonMobil Suspends $118 Million Plastic Recycling Investment in Europe; EU Policy Disputes Emerge as Key Barrier

Automotive News: Toray’s Bio-Based Material Ultrasuede™ nu Adopted by Spanish Car Brand CUPRA

Packaging News: COSMAX Partners with CJ CheilJedang to Explore Degradable Cosmetics Packaging Market

Electronics News: Counterpoint: vivo Tops China’s Smartphone Sales in First 8 Weeks of Q3

Other News: Loop Industries and Hyosung TNC Form Strategic Alliance to Help Global Brands Shift to Recycled Polyester Fiber

Macroeconomic News: Venezuela Launches Military Drills in Response to U.S. Military Deployment in Caribbean

Price News: Ethylene Asia: CFR Northeast Asia $850/ton, Up $10/ton

Details of International News:

SK Plans to Sell All Its Stakes in Sinopec-SK; Sinopec Expected to Gain Full Control

Plastmatch learned on September 18 that, according to KED Global, South Korea’s leading conglomerate SK Group plans to sell all its 35% stakes in the Sinopec-SK integrated joint venture. The joint venture was established by South Korea’s SK Group and Sinopec in Wuhan, China. This sale marks SK Group’s gradual withdrawal from the troubled commodity chemical sector. Reports indicate that the stake sale is being led by SK Geo Centric, a subsidiary of SK Innovation. Currently, the company is in negotiations with Sinopec, which holds the remaining 65% of the joint venture, as well as several other Chinese bidders.

BASF Intermediates Business Uses 100% Renewable Electricity to Produce Amines

September 16 - BASF’s Intermediates division announced that its portfolio of standard-grade amine products will soon be produced using 100% renewable electricity from the Geismar integrated production site in Louisiana. This transition is expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2025 and continue into 2026, complementing the ongoing transition in Europe. Renewable electricity will be allocated to the production of the amine product portfolio at the Geismar site through the application of solar and wind renewable energy credits. This transition reflects BASF’s overall strategy to achieve its 2050 net-zero emissions target while ensuring product quality and supply continuity. By leveraging renewable energy credits and optimizing production processes, BASF’s Intermediates division is significantly reducing the product carbon footprint (PCF) of its amine portfolio.

Loop Industries and Hyosung TNC Form Strategic Alliance to Help Global Brands Shift to Recycled Polyester Fiber

Recently, Loop Industries, a clean technology company dedicated to accelerating circular fashion by producing 100% textile-to-textile ("T2T") recycled polyester fiber and polyethylene terephthalate ("PET") plastic, and Hyosung TNC, a comprehensive sustainable textile solutions provider, announced the establishment of a strategic alliance to expand the application of recycled polyester materials by building a textile-to-textile supply chain. This strategic alliance will combine Loop Industries’ Infinite Loop™ depolymerization technology with Hyosung TNC’s industry-leading expertise in advanced textile materials to help brands transition from fossil-based raw materials and bottle-grade polyester to next-generation circular materials.

Arkema Partners with Catalyxx to Develop Bio-Based Acrylic Resins

Arkema, a global leader in specialty materials, and Catalyxx, an innovative bio-based chemicals company, announced the establishment of a strategic partnership. This collaboration aims to build a new value chain for low-carbon bio-based acrylic resins using breakthrough proprietary technologies. Catalyxx plans to build the world’s first industrial-scale production facility to produce bio-based alcohols such as n-butanol from bioethanol. The technology has been validated at a demonstration plant in Seville, Spain, and can significantly reduce the carbon footprint compared to fossil-based raw materials.

RecyClass Certification Leads Plastic Traceability with Over 60% of Europe’s Recycling Capacity Covered

The RecyClass recycling process certification system covers 60% of Europe’s operational plastic recycling capacity. In just three years since its launch, it has become the leading certification scheme for plastic traceability in the region. In 2024, the proportion of Europe’s operational recycling capacity certified by RecyClass at the "material flow level" saw exponential growth: 58% in the high-density polyethylene (HDPE)/polypropylene (PP) sector, 62% in the end-of-life vehicles and waste electrical and electronic equipment (ELV-WEEE) sector, 70% in the low-density polyethylene (LDPE) sector, and 75% in the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sector. These figures fully demonstrate the plastic recycling industry’s commitment to implementing "verified and trustworthy" recycling standards, thereby providing high-quality recycled raw materials for the entire industrial chain.

ExxonMobil Suspends $118 Million Plastic Recycling Investment in Europe; EU Policy Disputes as Key Barrier

Citing Reuters, Plastmatch reports that U.S. energy giant ExxonMobil (XOM.N) has suspended its €100 million (approximately $118 million) investment plan in Europe’s plastic recycling sector due to disputes over the certification standards for "recycled material content in end products" in the EU’s proposed regulatory draft. The company originally planned to deploy two chemical recycling projects at its existing petrochemical plants in Rotterdam and Antwerp, with an annual processing capacity of 80,000 tons of plastic waste. However, Jack Williams, senior vice president, revealed in an interview that the two projects have now been put on hold. He pointed out that the EU draft links the calculation method of recycled material content directly to "the quality of input waste" and "the quality of output products", a rule that essentially "discriminatorily" favors independent recycling facilities rather than integrated petrochemical plants with fossil raw material supplies. Williams emphasized: "All other conditions are in place except for policy factors—we have local support and are eager to move forward with the investment, but EU policy has become the only barrier."

Kuraray Opens Technology Center in Singapore to Support Growth of EVOH and PVOH

Kuraray Co., Ltd. announced that its local subsidiary Kuraray Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. has established the "Kuraray Asia Pacific Technology Center" in Singapore Science Park as a technical support base for the Asian market. The technology center will focus on PVOH resins, EVAL™ EVOH resins, and activated carbon, whose demand is growing in the region.

Toray’s Bio-Based Material Ultrasuede™ nu Adopted by Spanish Car Brand CUPRA

Recently, Toray Industries, Inc. announced that its high-end material Ultrasuede™ nu has been adopted by Spanish car brand CUPRA for the interior (instrument panel, door trim, center console, and steering wheel) and lifestyle peripheral products of its latest concept car CUPRA Tindaya. The CUPRA Tindaya concept car equipped with Ultrasuede™ nu made its global debut at the 2025 IAA Mobility held in Munich, Germany, in September this year.

Counterpoint: vivo Tops China’s Smartphone Sales in First 8 Weeks of Q3

According to the latest report released by market research firm Counterpoint, in the first 8 weeks of the third quarter of this year, vivo ranked first in China’s smartphone market with a 19% market share, driven by the strong performance of products such as the S30 and X200s series in the mid-to-high-end market. Huawei, OPPO, and Xiaomi tied for the second, third, and fourth positions with a 16% market share each, showing a significant gap with vivo. Meanwhile, Counterpoint predicts that China’s smartphone market will decline slightly in the third quarter, while the full-year performance will remain roughly flat.

COSMAX Partners with CJ CheilJedang to Explore Degradable Cosmetics Packaging Market

On September 16, South Korean cosmetics original design manufacturing (ODM) company COSMAX and CJ CheilJedang signed a "PHA Cosmetics Container Development Business Cooperation Agreement". Under the agreement, CJ CheilJedang will provide PHA materials suitable for cosmetics containers through its biodegradable material brand "PHACT"; COSMAX will develop various cosmetics containers and packaging products based on these materials. PHA is a polymer material naturally accumulated by microorganisms that ingest plant components. It can be completely degraded in industrial composting, home composting facilities, soil, and oceans without producing microplastics, and is regarded as a next-generation environmentally friendly material to replace petroleum-based plastics.

Overseas Macroeconomic Market：

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi Announces Candidacy for LDP President

Yoshimasa Hayashi, Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, held a press conference at the Japanese Diet on September 18 and officially announced his candidacy for the president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Hayashi stated that he will inherit the direction of the Kishida and Ishiba administrations and add new content.

Trump: Will Officially Designate U.S. "Far-Left" Group Antifa as a "Terrorist Organization"

On September 17 (local time), U.S. President Trump announced on his social media account that he will officially designate the U.S. "far-left" group Antifa as a "terrorist organization", calling it a "sick and dangerous far-left disaster". Trump also said that the funding sources related to the organization will be thoroughly investigated.

Venezuela Launches Military Drills in Response to U.S. Military Deployment in Caribbean

Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López announced on the 17th that in response to the U.S. military deployment in the Caribbean, Venezuela will launch a three-day military exercise on the northern island of Orchila starting from the same day to enhance its combat readiness for the Caribbean. López pointed out that the large-scale U.S. military deployment is threatening Venezuela, the Caribbean, and the entire Latin American region, and Venezuela must improve its combat readiness to respond to maritime armed conflicts. According to the Venezuelan military, 12 warships, 22 military aircraft, and 20 small naval special militia speedboats will be dispatched for the exercise, which includes air, sea, and land drills.

Price Information:

RMB/USD Central Parity Rate

The central parity rate of RMB against the U.S. dollar was reported at 7.1085, down 72 pips; the central parity rate of the previous trading day was 7.1013, the official closing price of the previous trading day was 7.1056, and the night session closing price was 7.1057.

Upstream Raw Material USD Market Prices

Ethylene Asia: CFR Northeast Asia 850 USD/ton, up 10 USD/ton; CFR Southeast Asia 840 USD/ton.

Propylene Northeast Asia: FOB South Korea average 770 USD/ton; CFR China average 805 USD/ton.

North Asia frozen cargo CIF: Propane 549-550 USD/ton; Butane 565-566 USD/ton.

South China frozen cargo CIF for late October: Propane 587-597 USD/ton; Butane 567-577 USD/ton.

Taiwan region frozen cargo CIF: Propane 549-550 USD/ton; Butane 565-566 USD/ton.

LLDPE USD Market Prices

Film: 860-915 USD/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Injection Molding: 1050 USD/ton (CFR Dongguan);

HDPE USD Market Prices

Film: 910-980 USD/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Blow Molding: 855 USD/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Injection Molding: 870 USD/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Pipes: 1025 USD/ton (CFR Huangpu);

LDPE USD Market Prices

Film: 1100-1115 USD/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Coating: 1280 USD/ton (CFR Huangpu).

PP USD Market Prices

Homopolymer: 855-920 USD/ton (CFR Huangpu), up 20 USD/ton;

Copolymer: 875-900 USD/ton (CFR Nansha);

Film Grade: 1030 USD/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Transparent Grade: 970-1050 USD/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Pipe Grade: 1100 USD/ton (CFR Shanghai).