At midday close, most domestic futures main contracts fell, with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) dropping over 6%, fuel oil and asphalt falling over 4%, and propylene, SC crude oil, methanol, synthetic rubber, and ethylene glycol (EG) declining over 3%. On the upside, urea rose nearly 4%, cotton, cotton yarn, platinum, soybean meal, Shanghai lead, and palm oil increased over 1%, and soybean oil rose nearly 1%.

On June 17, the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy released data on the "May Automotive Industry Trends," showing that South Korea's automobile export value in May was 5.83 billion USD, down 5.9% year-on-year. Export volume was 230,072 vehicles, a decrease of 6.6% year-on-year. Domestic sales (127,315 vehicles) and production (329,559 vehicles) decreased by 10.3% and 8.2% year-on-year, respectively. Despite this, the production and sales of new energy vehicles continued to show strong growth momentum. The export value of new energy vehicles in May was 2.4 billion USD, an increase of 9.9% year-on-year, accounting for more than 40% of total automobile exports. Export volume was 83,145 vehicles, up 11.2% year-on-year. Domestic sales were 77,179 vehicles, an increase of 5.5% year-on-year.

  On June 17, the price of LLDPE in the Yuyao market dropped by 50-150 yuan/ton. Market sentiment is bearish, and sellers are lowering prices to stimulate transactions, with actual deals being negotiated.

  Reported on June 17: The PP market in Hangzhou saw offers decline as international oil prices continued to fall, adding pressure to the market. Downstream buyers showed insufficient purchasing interest, while traders cautiously offered discounts to facilitate transactions. Actual deals are negotiable. As of midday, mainstream prices for raffia-grade PP were 9,450–9,650 yuan/tonne.

On June 16, Celanese announced.AISIN Industrial Co., Ltd.’s consolidated subsidiary, AISIN Industries Kentucky, LLC, has used polyoxymethylene (POM) material made by Celanese from captured carbon dioxide.Used for producing fuel pump modules for a North American automotive manufacturer.

According to reports, Ford Motor Company and several other automakers are competing to apply for permits from the U.S. Department of Commerce in order to continue selling multiple models that have been on the market for many years.In January 2025, the relevant regulations were implemented in the United States by the Biden administration on national security grounds and remained in effect after the Trump administration took office. These regulations restrict connected vehicles from being equipped with Chinese software. The software ban applies starting with 2027 model-year vehicles, while the hardware restrictions apply to 2030 model-year vehicles.Ford has submitted a relevant application, hoping to be approved for the continuous import of the Lincoln Nautilus SUV assembled in China, with an expected import of the 2027 model in January next year.Volvo stated in May that it had obtained the relevant licenses, General Motors has required its suppliers to eliminate all Chinese-made components from their supply chains by 2027, and the U.S. Department of Commerce will not publicly disclose applications for or the approval results of the relevant licenses.

On June 16, 2026, Olin Corporation and Huntsman Corporation jointly announced a proposed merger through a stock-for-stock transaction, with a total transaction value of approximately US$2.43 billion. Upon completion of the merger, the two companies will be combined into a North American company. The giants' combined revenue is expected to be approximately $12.5 billion in 2025. According to the announcement, the exchange ratio for this share swap is set at 0.5476 new Olin shares for each Huntsman share. Upon completion of the transaction, existing Olin shareholders will hold approximately 54.5% of the shares of the newly combined company, while Huntsman shareholders will own approximately 45.5%. The exchange ratio for this share swap was determined with reference to the volume-weighted average market prices over the 30 trading days up to June 12, using a market-price-based exchange mechanism. Olin and Huntsman stated that this pricing method not only offsets the impact of Olin’s recent share price volatility and reflects current market conditions, but also provides Huntsman shareholders with a premium relative to the historical average share price. Olin, headquartered in Clayton, Missouri, and Huntsman, headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, are both important companies in the North American chemical industry.

On June 16, Ruifeng New Materials (300910.SZ) announced that the company has been included in the EU's sanctions list against Russia. The EU claims that the company supplies chemical additives for military lubricants used by the Russian military machinery. The company stated that its products are solely for civilian use, has never supplied chemical additives for Russian military machinery lubricants, is not an entity supporting the Russian military-industrial complex, has not participated in military research and development, has proactively ceased business with Russia, and has initiated response measures, cooperating with national authorities to negotiate with the EU. Revenue from the EU region in 2025 is approximately 142 million yuan, accounting for about 4% of total revenue, with a preliminary assessment indicating a relatively small direct impact.

On June 15, the National Development and Reform Commission and four other departments jointly issued the "Notice on Launching a Three-Year Action for Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction Transformation in Key Industries." The notice focuses on nine industries: steel, electrolytic aluminum, cement, flat glass, refining, ethylene, synthetic ammonia, methanol, and coal power, aiming to comprehensively implement energy-saving and carbon reduction transformations within three years. The notice proposes that by the end of 2028, the proportion of production capacity in key industrial sectors such as steel, electrolytic aluminum, cement, flat glass, refining, ethylene, synthetic ammonia, and methanol that meets the current energy efficiency benchmark level will increase by an average of 20 percentage points, while the coal power industry will strive to increase by 15 percentage points. Production capacity below the energy efficiency benchmark level will be basically eliminated, cumulatively resulting in energy savings exceeding 100 million tons of standard coal and carbon dioxide emissions reductions exceeding 200 million tons.

Recently, 1,008 tonnes of polypropylene products sold by Sinochem Chemical Sales departed from Qinzhou Port in Guangxi for Mundra Port in India. The shipment, comprising 36 containers, represents the largest single order since Sinochem Chemical Sales began its polypropylene export business. Since the beginning of this year, demand for polypropylene in the Indian market has shown growth opportunities. The company closely tracked changes in overseas customer inquiries, promoted resource matching and quotation implementation, and ultimately secured the order. During execution, taking into account tight shipping space on Southeast Asia and India routes, the business and logistics teams secured space in advance and dynamically adjusted the container loading plan to ensure the goods were delivered to the port and shipped on schedule.

Xiaopeng He: X9 has begun deliveries in Europe. A new step in globalization. Looking forward to it becoming part of the daily lives of more European families.

On June 15, the signing ceremony for the establishment of Corning's new company project in Jiading was held. This new company project will focus on the scaled production of high-precision optical fiber connector harnesses. Strengthen infrastructure construction, focusing on supporting services for data center operations. Further improve the production environment, introduce key equipment, and build more comprehensive manufacturing and testing capabilities. At the same time, support the introduction and development of a professional team, gradually building stronger local production and delivery capabilities, and strive to establish a world-leading production base in Jiading with an annual output value of USD 1 billion.

On June 15, Renault Group announced the official opening of the ACDC R&D office in Hangzhou.After the Shanghai R&D office commenced operations, the launch of the Hangzhou R&D office further expands ACDC's presence in China, establishing a dual-base collaborative framework that will comprehensively provide strong support for Renault Group's technology research and development and engineering implementation.

Recently, Nissan Motor President Ivan Espinosa officially announced that Nissan has shortened the new car development cycle from the traditional 55 months to 26 months, nearly halving it. The first model to apply this new development process is the next-generation Skyline, scheduled to be launched in the winter of 2026, which has successfully achieved a 26-month development cycle. The core of this transformation is to learn from Chinese car manufacturers who rely on AI for rapid iteration. Nissan has applied AI throughout the entire new car development process and plans to extend this process to 90% of its model projects within the 2026 fiscal year.

In the early market close, the main domestic futures contracts saw more gains than losses. Polysilicon rose nearly 6%, palladium and**** (coke) were up over 5%, Shanghai silver increased over 4%, platinum and lithium carbonate rose nearly 4%, coking coal gained over 3%, and Shanghai tin was up nearly 3%. On the downside, SC crude oil fell nearly 5%, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and low-sulfur fuel oil (LU) dropped nearly 4%, fuel oil was down over 3%, and propylene, European shipping, monthly average polypropylene, and polypropylene all fell over 1%.

On June 11, Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. and Yinwang Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. signed a deepening strategic cooperation agreement in Wuhu, Anhui, to carry out in-depth cooperation on L3 and L4 level autonomous driving technologies. Chery stated that the 15th Five-Year Plan period will be a critical phase for the implementation of L3 and L4 level autonomous driving. According to the agreement, Chery and Yinwang will accelerate technological breakthroughs and mass production implementation of L3 and L4 level autonomous driving during the 15th Five-Year Plan period.

According to foreign media reports,Dow has announced that its LCH3 steam cracking unit in Terneuzen, the Netherlands, has resumed operations. The cracker had previously delayed its planned maintenance, originally scheduled for June 2025, due to weak market conditions, and was subsequently shut down, remaining out of operation until now.In January 2025, Dow Chemical stated that it would suspend operations at the plant until market conditions improve. The cracker has a nameplate capacity of 680,000 metric tons of ethylene per year and 286,000 metric tons of propylene per year, and it was commissioned in 2000.

In May 2026, the cost support of crude oil for PE weakened. Domestic production increased while imports continued to decrease, leading to a slight overall increase in supply. The downstream sector is in a traditional demand off-season, with low enthusiasm for raw material procurement, which is bearish for the spot market. In June, cost support is expected to continue weakening, with an anticipated increase in domestic supply, and in the off-season for demand, the price focus of the PE market may continue to decline.

In May, China’s power and energy storage battery sales reached 182.2 GWh, up 11.0% month on month and 47.4% year on year.Among them, power battery sales reached 127.0 GWh, accounting for 69.7% of total sales, up 16.6% month-on-month and 45.2% year-on-year; energy storage battery sales reached 55.2 GWh, accounting for 30.3% of total sales, down 0.1% month-on-month and up 52.7% year-on-year.

Recently, Swamy Kotagiri, CEO of Canadian automotive parts giant Magna International, stated in an interview that Magna is open to assembling Chinese cars in Canada if the collaboration has "genuine long-term value." The company has been deeply engaged in the Chinese market for nearly 20 years, establishing nearly 70 factories and employing 30,000 people, along with a research and development team of 2,000 engineers. In 2024, sales in the China region are expected to grow by 15%, with about 60% coming from local automakers, and the performance of its business in China significantly surpassing the company's average level.