SunSirs: Plastics and Rubber Industries Bulk Commodity Intelligence (April 30, 2026)

Macroeconomics

1. [PMI] National Bureau of Statistics: In April, the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) stood at 50.3%, a decrease of 0.1 percentage points from the previous month, indicating that the overall level of manufacturing sector activity remained stable.

2. [Imports & Exports] Data released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) shows that in March, the total volume of goods and services trade—measured within the balance of payments framework—reached 4,987.6 billion RMB. Specifically, exports of goods and services amounted to 2,643.7 billion RMB, while imports totaled 2,343.9 billion RMB, resulting in a trade surplus of 299.9 billion RMB.

3. [Total Social Logistics] China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing: From January to March of this year, the total volume of social logistics in my country reached 96.4 trillion RMB, a year-on-year increase of 6.2%. This growth rate represents a 0.5-percentage-point improvement over the same period last year, demonstrating a clear trend of recovery; furthermore, this growth rate continued to outpace the GDP growth rate for the corresponding period.

4. [Fed Interest Rates] The Federal Reserve maintained its target range for the federal funds rate unchanged at 3.5% to 3.75%. This decision—marking the third consecutive time this year that interest rates have been held steady—was in line with broad market expectations.

5. [Eurozone Economic Sentiment Index] The Eurozone Economic Sentiment Index plummeted from 96.2 in April to 93. Confidence weakened across all sectors, with the services and retail sectors being particularly hard hit.

6. [Germany CPI] Germany's preliminary Consumer Price Index (CPI) for April rose 2.9% year-on-year—an increase from the 2.7% recorded in March—though it fell short of the 3% figure anticipated by market expectations. The core CPI, excluding food and energy prices, stood at 2.3%. Notably, energy prices surged approximately 10.1% year-on-year, marking their largest increase since the beginning of 2023.

7. [Brazil Rate Cut] The Central Bank of Brazil lowered its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points to 14.50%.

Plastics and Rubber

1. [PP] Fushun Petrochemical operates two PP production lines with a combined annual capacity of 390,000 tons. Currently, the operating load on both lines remains normal. On April 29, the ex-factory price for the wire-drawing grade L5E89 was raised by 100 RMB to 9,250 RMB per ton.

2. [BR] Zhejiang Petrochemical Co., Ltd.'s flexible 100,000-ton/year nickel/neodymium-based polybutadiene rubber (BR) facility was shut down for maintenance on March 23, 2026, with a planned restart date of April 29, 2026.

3. [Natural Rubber] On April 29, market prices for natural rubber raw materials in Thailand's production regions trended upward: Smoked Sheets were quoted at 83.00 THB/kg (up 1.00 THB/kg); Latex was quoted at 80.75 THB/kg (up 0.50 THB/kg); and Cup Lump was quoted at 65.85 THB/kg (up 0.50 THB/kg).

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