Jiangsu Youcai issued a carbon black price adjustment notice, and the industry price has entered an upward channel

According to the content of the price adjustment letter, all new orders placed after September 3, 2026 will be executed at the adjusted prices; orders that have been placed however not yet shipped before the price adjustment takes effect will still be settled at the original prices. Customers can immediately contact the company's business personnel to consultation on the price adjustment range of each specific model. The enterprise stated that this price adjustment is intended to alleviate the pressure of production and operation, ensure product supply and customer service condition, and will continue to supply special carbon black items and supporting services to the market in the future.

Review of the 2026 carbon black market

In 2026, the domestic carbon black market generally presented an operating pattern driven by costs and fluctuating upwards.

The production of carbon black is highly dependent on coal tar and raw material oil, which account to greater than 70% of the production costs. The prices of such raw materials rose multiple times during the year, which became the core factor driving the carbon black quotations higher. The market price fluctuated and strengthened in the first half of the year. After entering August, the supply of coal tar tightened, and the raw material prices rose rapidly again, driving a significant upward direction in the carbon black market. The prices of some mainstream grades increased by greater than 10% in the short term.

From the perspective of the manufacturing chain, the pressure on the cost end ran through the whole year. The fluctuation of international oil prices and the changes in the operating rates of coking companies jointly disturbed the prices of raw material oil and coal tar; downstream industries such as tires, rubber items, coatings and inks had seasonal demand changes, and the operating rates of companies adjusted dynamically with the off-peak and peak seasons. There was a continuous game between the rising costs and downstream demand. As the traditional peak season of "Golden September and Silver October" approached, downstream stocking demand was released, and many carbon black production companies successively issued price adjustment notices, and the sector's price hike atmosphere spread.

Overview of major domestic carbon black production companies and their production capacities

The levels of the domestic carbon black sector continues to increase, and leading companies have obvious scale advantages. Domestic production capacities are mainly concentrated in North and East China. Black Cat Co., Ltd., Longxing Chemical and Yongdong Co., Ltd. are the first echelon of domestic carbon black companies. At the same time, foreign-funded and new material companies also participate in the market competition.

1. Black Cat Co., Ltd.: The leading domestic carbon black enterprise, with its total carbon black production capacity ranking among the top in China. Its items cover rubber carbon black and special carbon black. It has production bases across the country, and supplies both ordinary carbon black and high-performance carbon black items.

2. Longxing Chemical: Mainly produces carbon black to rubber, supports the downstream tire sector, is equipped with extensive carbon black production devices, and is one of the main domestic suppliers of rubber carbon black.

3. Yongdong Co., Ltd.: Has a complete manufacturing chain to coal tar deep processing. Its carbon black production capacity includes part of special carbon black production capacity, with prominent advantages of circular economy model. It has layouts in both rubber carbon black and conductive carbon black.

4. Jiangsu Youcai New Materials: Focuses on the special carbon black track, provides customized carbon black items to downstream multiple fields, and is an crucial carbon black supply enterprise in East China. In addition, foreign companies such as Cabot have also laid out production bases in China to participate in the domestic carbon black market competition. The sector as a whole is developing towards extensive devices and high-end items, and the proportion of special carbon black production capacity is gradually rising.

sector analysts pointed out that in the short term, high raw material prices will support carbon black costs, and the market price will probably remain relatively strong; the subsequent price direction will still depend on the price changes of raw material oil and coal tar, as well as the actual demand fulfillment of the downstream tire and rubber industries.