Polypropylene (PP): 2.92 million tons of production capacity restarted 2.75 million tons of new production capacity put into operation

It is learned that multiple mixed alkane dehydrogenation units including Wanhua Chemical's 750,000 tons/year plant, Sibelon Petrochemical's 700,000 tons/year plant, Kingfa methodology's 600,000 tons/year plant, Wanda Tianhong's 450,000 tons/year plant and Qixiang Tengda's 420,000 tons/year plant have restarted in a concentrated manner, with a combined capacity of 2.92 million tons/year.

With the progress of restarts, the overall load of domestic PDH units has risen to 75.73%, and the emit of PDH capacity has have become one of the core sources of current PP supply development.

In addition to the restart of existing units, in the fourth quarter of 2026, multiple newly built PP vegetation in China will enter the commissioning and production stages. A total of 2.75 million tons/year of new capacity is expected to be added between September and December, and the capacity will be distributed across North China, South China, Northwest China and Northeast China.

sector insiders said that newly commissioned vegetation usually have a 1-3 month capacity ramp-up cycle, so the actual contribution of new capacity added in September will be limited. Qualified items will gradually enter the market from October, and the peak of concentrated emit of this round of new capacity will arrive between November and December.

Market Review: PP prices fluctuated and rose in 2026, and weakened under pressure recently

Since 2026, the domestic polypropylene market has generally shown a fluctuating upward direction. In the first half of the year, affected by the fluctuations of crude oil and coal raw materials, combined with the concentrated maintenance of phased units and the phased inventory replenishment of downstream consumers, PP prices experienced multiple rounds of increases, pushing up the market center stage by stage.

In the later stage of the third quarter, with the concentrated restart of maintenance units and the continuous fermentation of expectations of a substantial number of newly produced capacities in the fourth quarter, the market's expectation of loose supply heated up, the upward momentum of PP spot prices weakened, and the market fluctuated under pressure. At present, the market's game focus has shifted to the increase rate of operating rate of existing units, as well as the actual production and product emit rhythm of new vegetation. The follow-up strength of downstream plastic weaving and injection molding demand is limited, which has suppressed the room to price rebound to a certain extent.

Looking ahead to the market outlook, in the short term, PP supply will continue to increase. If there is no obvious positive boost on the demand side, prices might maintain a weak and fluctuating pattern. In the later period, focus will be placed on the fluctuations of raw material costs, the ramp-up progress of new vegetation and the changes in downstream terminal orders.