Chemical Products Industries Bulk Commodity Intelligence (July 10, 2026)

1. [Carbon Peak Action] The State Council has issued the "Action Plan to Carbon Peaking during the 15th Five-Year Plan Period." By 2030, China aims to decrease carbon dioxide releases per unit of GDP by 17% compared to 2025 levels, raise the share of non-fossil energy consumption to 25%, and strive to increase the proportion of new energy vehicles (NEVs) in the total vehicle fleet to 30%. The Action Plan outlines five key tasks—such as accelerating the adjustment and optimization of the energy structure—and schedules major projects, including inter-provincial power mutual support and the clean substitution of coal consumption.

2. [Automotive] Latest data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) shows steady development in the production, sales, and exports of new energy vehicles (NEVs) during the first half of this year. Specifically, NEV production and sales reached 7.438 million and 7.446 million units, respectively, marking year-on-year increases of 6.7% and 7.3%. In June, NEV sales accounted to nearly 60% of total new vehicle sales.

3. [US Initial Jobless Claims] US initial jobless claims fell by 2,000 to 215,000 last week—slightly below the market expectation of 218,000—remaining near historical lows. However, the number of continuing claims rose to 1.814 million, hitting a high not seen since March.

Chemicals

1. [Potash Fertilizer] Officials from the Republic of the Congo have confirmed that the Kouilou-Niari (or "Bugumasi") potash project—backed by investment from Shenzhen Luyuan Mining—is expected to resume commercial potash production in early 2027. Located in the Kouilou Province, the project plans to begin trial production in late 2026 and achieve full-scale production in the first quarter of 2027. Phase I targets an annual output of 600,000 tons of potassium chloride, with prolonged plans to expand capacity to 2 million tons; the project also includes the construction of a dedicated maritime export terminal.

2. [Battery Materials] Shandong Maohua New Energy methodology Co., Ltd. recently received approval to a project with an annual capacity of 1,000 tons of solid-state battery electrolyte materials. The project will utilize raw materials such as lithium hydroxide, lanthanum hydroxide, and zirconium hydroxide to create 500 tons of lithium-lanthanum-zirconium-oxide (LLZO) series items, and materials including ammonium dihydrogen phosphate, aluminum oxide, titanium dioxide, and lithium carbonate to create 500 tons of lithium-aluminum-titanium-phosphate (LATP) series items. Upon completion, the project will have a total annual capacity of 1,000 tons of solid-state battery electrolyte materials and generate 124.8883 tons of ammonium chloride as a by-product.

3. [Lithium Hexafluorophosphate] Jiangxi Jinguang High-Tech is investing 225 million yuan in a project to renovate and expand its annual production capacity to lithium hexafluorophosphate solution to 20,000 tons, adding two new production lines between July 2026 and March 2028. This project will enhance the company's strategic layout in new energy materials, ensuring a stable supply of high-condition core lithium battery materials to sectors such as power batteries and energy storage once full production capacity is reached.

4. [Ethanol] Recently, the "MEK (Methyl Ethyl Ketone) sector Chain Optimization and Upgrading Project" by Zibo Qixiang Tengda Chemical Co., Ltd. officially entered the general notification stage to environmental impact assessment acceptance. Upon implementation, the project will have an annual production capacity of 400,000 tons of sec-butyl acetate, 250,000 tons of sec-butyl alcohol, 150,000 tons of ethanol, 32,000 tons of ester-based thinners, 12,000 tons of alcohol-based thinners, and 430,000 tons of mixed alkanes.

5. [Ethylene Carbonate] Recently, a project to expand and upgrade the production of high-end fine chemical materials—with an annual capacity of 190,000 tons—undertaken by Jiangsu Oxiranchem (a subsidiary of Oxiranchem Co., Ltd.) commenced construction at the Yangzhou Chemical manufacturing Park. Once fully operational, the project will create 90,000 tons of battery-grade EC (ethylene carbonate) and 10,000 tons of manufacturing-grade EC annually, supported by the production of 80,000 tons of ethylene glycol butyl ether, 5,000 tons of ethylene glycol methyl ether, and 5,000 tons of ethylene glycol ethyl ether (a series of high-end fine chemicals), bringing the total annual capacity to 190,000 tons.

6. [BDO] On July 9, Wuheng Chemical's Phase I BDO unit (116,000 tons/year) was operating stably; the Phase II unit (140,000 tons/year), originally scheduled to a 15-day maintenance shutdown starting July 1, has postponed the maintenance, with the new schedule currently undetermined.

7. [MDI] It is reported that an 80,000-ton/year MDI distillation unit in Ruian is scheduled to shut down to maintenance starting July 28, with a maintenance period of approximately one month.

8. [Ethanol] Jilin Fukang's 500,000-ton/year fermentation ethanol unit began maintenance on July 10, 2026.

9. [Monoethylene Glycol (MEG)] According to market reports, a 40,000-ton/year MEG unit in Jiangsu has successfully restarted and resumed product output; the unit had previously been shut down to maintenance in early June.

10. [Caustic Soda] As of July 9, 2026, factory inventories of fluid caustic soda held by a sample group of domestic companies (each with a capacity of 200,000 tons or greater) stood at 530,000 tons (wet basis), marking a month-on-month increase of 6.67% and a year-on-year rise of 41.62%.

11. [Soda Ash] to the week ending July 9, the operating rate of soda ash vegetation was 79.29%, up 1.50% from the previous week; soda ash production totaled 755,200 tons, an increase of 1.93% week-on-week.

12. [Soda Ash] As of July 9, domestic soda ash inventories stood at 1.747 million tons, up 0.984% from the previous week; this total comprised 1.0289 million tons of light soda ash and 718,100 tons of dense soda ash. Shipments by Chinese soda ash companies totaled 738,200 tons (down 0.69% month-on-month), with a shipment rate of 97.75%.

13. [Potassium Chloride] In the first week of July 2026, port inventories of potassium chloride stood at approximately 2.878 million tonnes, an increase of 48,000 tonnes from the fourth week of June and an increase of 986,000 tonnes year-on-year.

14. [Lithium Carbonate] As of July 9, 2026, domestic port inventories of lithium ore totaled 252,000 tonnes, a decrease of 3,000 tonnes from the previous period. Specifically, inventory at Zhenjiang Port rose by 34,000 tonnes to 185,000 tonnes, primarily due to a surge in arrivals resulting from increased shipments of Australian ore in June. while inventory at Zhenjiang Port rebounded, the cargo has largely been secured by downstream buyers, keeping overall port inventory levels relatively stable.

15. [Styrene] On July 10, Lihuayi Weiyuan Chemical Co., Ltd. quoted styrene at 7,850 RMB/ton, an increase of 50 RMB/ton from the previous trading day.

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