On August 13, oil prices slightly declined after rising for five consecutive trading days, as traders awaited signs of progress on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. WTI crude oil fell below $82 per barrel, following an 11% cumulative increase over the past five trading days; Brent crude briefly dropped below $87 per barrel. Regarding the Middle East situation, there were almost no signs of progress on reopening the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. President Trump stated that the United States has "full control" over this waterway. The International Energy Agency (IEA) indicated that as the U.S.-Iran conflict continues, the global oil market faces a supply shortfall of 1.8 million barrels per day this quarter, more than twice previous estimates; by 2026, the oil supply deficit could reach its largest level in five years. According to the American Automobile Association, gasoline and diesel prices in the U.S. have never been this high for this time of year.

IEA Monthly Report: Global oil demand in 2026 is expected to decline by 1.6 million barrels per day due to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and high oil prices (previously forecasted to decline by 1 million barrels per day).

Recently, Zhuhai Maide Biological Technology Co., Ltd. received approval for its "single-use sterile tissue closure clip" as a Class II medical device (Yue Medical Device Registration No. 20262020844), becoming the first domestic medical device approved made from polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). PHA has officially transitioned from the laboratory to clinical use, marking a milestone breakthrough for domestic biomedical materials.

Recently, the People’s Government of Uxin Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, issued the “Public Notice on Social Stability Risk Assessment for the 1 Million Tons/Year Ethane and Light Hydrocarbon-to-Ethylene Project of Hohhot Petrochemical Company.” According to publicly available preliminary project information, the project plans to newly build: a 1 million tons/year ethylene unit (including a PSA unit), a 300,000 tons/year HDPE unit, two 400,000 tons/year FDPE units, a 250,000 tons/year PP unit, a 50,000 tons/year butadiene extraction unit, a 100,000 tons/year pyrolysis gasoline hydrogenation unit, and a 200,000 tons/year by-product consumption co-production unit. Supporting utility and auxiliary facilities, storage and transportation works, as well as a dedicated railway spur line, will be constructed concurrently.

Report on August 11: Rongsheng Petrochemical's 1.6 million tons per year ABS unit has a planned production reduction for August, with an expected load reduction to 60-70% operation. Previously, the unit was operating at about 80% capacity.

Huinan Technology (Boluo) 3D Printing Intelligent Manufacturing Base Project Filing.The total project investment is 200 million RMB, located in Xinzhanwu, Yuanzhou Town, Boluo County, Huizhou City. It leases local factory buildings/industrial park with a total construction area of approximately 12,500 square meters and covers an area of about 3,000 square meters. The project aims to build a full-chain intelligent manufacturing base integrating AI toy creative design, large-scale FDM 3D printing manufacturing, R&D and production of FDM eco-friendly 3D printing materials, and toy IP cultural and creative incubation. It adopts the FDM fused deposition modeling process, supporting an FDM 3D printing eco-friendly material production area (2,500㎡): establishing standardized PLA material automated extrusion production lines, with 300 production lines to be built in batches within 5 years.

Recently, the transparent injection molding grade polypropylene product PPR-MT26, independently developed by Tianjin Petrochemical, passed the national medical polypropylene certification test, making it the company's first product to receive medical plastic certification. This lays the foundation for entering the medical device field and exploring new markets. The medical device industry has extremely strict requirements for the selection of plastic raw materials. The PPR-MT26 product can be applied in disposable medical devices, diagnostic consumables, and drug delivery systems, featuring high technical added value. Tianjin Petrochemical has introduced higher-level clean production standards and online monitoring systems, employing multi-stage precision filtration, closed automated transportation, and specialized clean packaging technology to elevate the product purity to medical-grade levels.

Recently, CNPC Guangxi Petrochemical’s 1.2 million tonnes/year ethylene unit successfully completed a 72-hour full-process, full-load performance test, achieving uninterrupted operation for 72 hours at 100% full load across the entire process. The 1.2 million tonnes/year ethylene unit adopts CNPC’s independently developed large-scale ethylene complete-process technology, supported by key domestically produced equipment including the localized PEC-21 palladium-based catalyst and core machinery with dual-frequency converter seamless switching. The electric-driven ethylene refrigeration compressor achieved full-load operation for the first time, with the unit running in good condition, providing valuable data support for subsequent optimization and regulation of electric-driven units.

Recently, MDI facilities have undergone**** maintenance, leading to a temporary contraction on the supply side.Business SocietyNews: Tosoh (Rui'an) 80,000 tons/year MDI unit began shutdown for maintenance at the end of July, with a duration of about one month. Japan Tosoh's 200,000 tons/year unit and Wanhua Chemical have disclosed announcements regarding the shutdown and maintenance of some of their units. Previously, Wanhua Chemical's Yantai Industrial Park 1.1 million tons/year MDI unit planned to undergo annual maintenance, expected to last about 45 days.

Shandong Donghong Pipe Industry Co., Ltd. (stock code: 603856, abbreviated as "Donghong Shares") announced on August 7 that the company has recently officially signed a "Procurement Framework Contract" with Wanhua Chemical Group Materials Co., Ltd. (abbreviated as "Wanhua Chemical Materials"), with an estimated total contract amount of 180 million yuan. The signing of this contract marks a further enhancement of the company's market competitiveness in the industrial pipeline sector, which is expected to have a positive impact on future operating performance.

To further promote the comprehensive recycling and utilization of construction waste and enhance the city’s integrated management capacity for construction waste, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, together with eight other departments, has issued the Notice on Adjusting the Categories of Recycled Construction Waste Products and Their Applicable Engineering Parts. The notice brings**** improvements in recycled product categories, applicable project scope, and usage ratio requirements, injecting new momentum into the green, low-carbon, and high-quality development of the capital’s urban and rural construction.

In its Q2 financial report, INEOS Group announced its official withdrawal from the petrochemical joint venture Sinopec INEOS (Tianjin) Petrochemical Co., Ltd. with Sinopec in Tianjin. The joint venture, established in 2023 with a 50:50 share ratio, came to an end in less than three years. According to the exit agreement, INEOS will pay Sinopec $120 million, to be paid in equal installments over 24 months starting in March 2027. The investment in the joint venture and financial liabilities amounting to approximately €575.7 million, which INEOS had previously confirmed on its books, have been completely derecognized. INEOS first revealed its intention to exit in November 2025.

Brazil’s Foreign Trade Chamber published in the Federal Government Gazette the final ruling of the sunset review on anti-dumping measures against PVC-S resin from China. It decided to extend the 21.6% anti-dumping duty on Chinese PVC for a period of five years, but to temporarily suspend collection in the short term; if imports surge again and impact the domestic industry, the duty will be immediately reinstated. The product concerned falls under tariff code 39041010. A single 21.6% duty rate applies uniformly to all producers in China, with no company-specific differentiated rates.

Recently, Changshu Automotive Trim Group and KraussMaffei officially held a strategic cooperation signing ceremony.Both parties announced the establishment of a long-term strategic partnership. This collaboration aims to deeply integrate the core strengths of both parties in technology research and development, industrial resources, process equipment, and other areas.Jointly promote the innovative upgrading and high-quality development of the automotive industry.

Marelli China has recently launched an integrated surface technology for outer lenses that eliminates the need for hard coating.This technology shifts the formation of the surface protection function from the traditional post-coating process to the injection molding stage, providing more possibilities for the design and functional development of automotive lamp outer lenses.In the existing manufacturing process, polycarbonate outer lenses require multiple hard coating procedures after injection molding, including cleaning, spraying, leveling, flash drying, curing, and cooling, to achieve protective properties such as scratch resistance, weather resistance, UV resistance, and chemical resistance.

On August 5, the Fair Trade Investigation Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office in South Korea conducted search and seizure operations against seven petrochemical companies and related individuals, including LG Chem, Hanwha Solutions, Aekyung Chemical, OCI, Lotte Fine Chemical, PKC, and UNID, as part of an investigation into suspected price-fixing of multiple petrochemical products. Prosecutors suspect that over many years, these companies engaged in prior consultations on price increases for eight categories of products, including PVC, plasticizers, caustic soda, and hydrochloric acid. Earlier, in May this year, the Korea Fair Trade Commission had already uncovered clues of the alleged collusion and launched an on-site investigation.

By the midday close, most actively traded domestic futures contracts were higher. Platinum rose more than 7%, palladium more than 6%, Shanghai silver more than 5%, urea more than 4%, and coking coal more than 3%, while Shanghai lead and coke both gained more than 2%. On the downside, the EC freight index (Europe route) fell more than 9%, SC crude oil more than 6%, ethylene glycol (EG), pure benzene, and styrene (EB) more than 5%, bottle-grade PET nearly 5%, and paraxylene and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) more than 4%.

On August 4, it was reported that Lianyungang Petrochemical (Satellite) raised the ex-factory price of PS by 100 yuan, with a quote of 9,300 yuan/ton for 525, 9,300 yuan/ton for 535T, 9,300 yuan/ton for 535M, 9,600 yuan/ton for modified benzene 88, and 10,000 yuan/ton for 888. The production capacity is 400,000 tons. Prices are for self-pickup and are negotiable for each order.

Reported on August 4: PetroChina South China lowered ABS prices by RMB 200/ton. Jieyang 0215A was listed at RMB 9,900/ton, 0215H at RMB 9,900/ton, 0215E at RMB 9,900/ton, HF681 at RMB 9,900/ton, and 2437 at RMB 9,100/ton. PetroChina’s Daqing Petrochemical ABS plant has an annual production capacity of 300,000 tons, while the (Jilin Petrochemical) Jieyang ABS plant has an annual production capacity of 600,000 tons.

Reported on August 4: Sinopec East China ABS prices were listed down by 200 yuan/ton, with 0215A at 9,800 yuan/ton, GE150 at 9,800 yuan/ton, Jieyang 0215A listed at 9,800 yuan/ton, and 750ASQ listed at 9,800 yuan/ton. PetroChina's Daqing Petrochemical ABS plant has a capacity of 300,000 tons per year, and Jilin Petrochemical ABS plant has a capacity of 1.2 million tons per year.