Trusted by the names that move the chemicals industry.

China's chemical market is showing two clear, opposing currents today — the benzene/aromatics chain is falling, while propylene (C3) derivatives and the PU chain are climbing. Rubber-latex and carbon-materials segments are also showing sharp divergence.

The rally cools but doesn’t crack; naphtha (+4.9%) and ethylene (+3.8%) extend gains while benzene prints its first weekly decline in three weeks as Europe supplies the structural storyline: the Rhine runs too low for Germany’s crackers, Versalis mothballs Brindisi PE, and Indovinya ties up with Air Liquide on lowcarbon ethylene oxide. 

The 92% surge and the 62% crash are both behind us. The second half of 2026 is a band, not a bear market and the floor sits at ¥28,000. Bearish bromine in H2'26? No; the bear market already happened, compressed into eleven weeks of Q2. From above ¥70,000/t in April to ¥26,500/t at the trough, the correction is done. AJC expects bromine to hold a ¥28,000– 32,000/t band (≈ USD 3,900–4,475/t) through H2, with a shallow seasonal dip risk in Aug–Sep consolidation, not capitulation.