Global Chemical Market Overview, May 25-30 – Asia diverges, India upgrades and EU-China risk rises
📌 The chemical market stayed uneven last week. Feedstock pressure remained important, but product-level divergence became clearer: oversupplied segments weakened, while industrial acids tied to metals and fertilizer demand held firmer support.
🔎 In Asia, hydrogen peroxide fell sharply as supply stayed excessive and demand from paper, textiles and downstream industries remained weak. Hydrochloric acid and phosphoric acid moved higher on rising input costs and stable demand, while PTA edged up with naphtha pressure.
🏭 India remained a regional bright spot. Dai-ichi Karkaria expanded ethoxylation capacity at Dahej for surfactants and specialty intermediates, while IPL Biologicals opened the first phase of its Vadodara plant, supporting biofertilizers and biopesticides.
🌎 Brazil showed signs of regaining domestic market share as imported chemical supply, especially from the Middle East, faced disruption. Local producers benefited from demand shifting toward domestic alternatives, though this still looks more like supply-chain adaptation than a broad recovery.
⚠️ EU-China trade tensions stayed important. Europe’s view that trade with China is becoming unsustainable could lead to quotas, tariffs or stricter diversification rules, adding volatility to chemical and clean-tech input flows into Europe in Q3.
💼 M&A activity continued to favor carve-outs and portfolio simplification. Large producers are focusing more on specialty, bio-based and higher-margin segments as overcapacity, weak downstream demand and unstable costs remain unresolved.
✅ Into June, the market may stay divided. Hydrogen peroxide could remain weak if oversupply persists, while HCl, phosphoric acid and PTA need tracking against input costs. SunSirs and Argus spot updates, India’s bio-agrochem rollout and EU trade policy signals will be key drivers.