SunSirs: Chemical Products Industries Bulk Commodity Intelligence (July 8, 2026)

Macroeconomics

1. [Foreign Exchange Reserves] Statistics from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange show that as of the end of June 2026, China's foreign exchange reserves stood at $3.4163 trillion, a decrease of $26 billion (or 0.75%) from the end of May.

2. [US ADP Employment] US ADP employment increased by 21,000 last week, compared to a previous figure of 30,750.

Chemicals

1. [Lithium Carbonate] Leading local media in Nigeria recently reported that the largest lithium processing plant in West Africa has officially commenced operations in Nasarawa State. The facility is operated by the Chinese-backed Diamond Energy Group. It boasts a daily raw lithium ore processing capacity of 6,000 tonnes; local reports indicate an annual processing capacity of 3 million tonnes, equivalent to approximately 30,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE).

2. [Lithium Sulfate] Zimbabwe’s KMC is accelerating its deep-processing project for lithium sulfate. With a total investment of approximately US$200 million, the project comprises a smelter and a sulfuric acid plant, featuring a designed annual processing capacity of 350,000 tonnes of lithium concentrate and an annual output of 75,000 tonnes of lithium sulfate; operations are scheduled to begin in 2027. Concurrently, KMC is developing a tin-niobium-tantalum separation project to ensure the comprehensive recovery of mineral resources.

3. [BDO] As of July 7, both of Sinopec Great Wall Energy’s BDO units—each with a capacity of 100,000 tonnes/year—are operating stably. One of the units is scheduled for a catalyst change between July 10 and July 20. PTMEG output is primarily allocated for captive use and contract fulfillment; no spot quotes are currently being offered.

4. [Ethylene Glycol] Market rumors indicate that a 300,000-tonne/year ethylene glycol unit in Shanxi is scheduled to shut down for maintenance in mid-to-late July (around July 20), with the outage expected to last approximately one month.

5. [Ethanol] It is reported that a total of 1.37 million tonnes/year of new domestic ethanol production capacity is planned for the second half of 2026. Coal-based ethanol accounts for the vast majority of this—1.27 million tonnes/year—while bio-fermentation ethanol contributes only 0.10 million tonnes/year (specifically, the syngas-to-ethanol project by Inner Mongolia Pengtai Bio-tech). Key coal-based ethanol projects include Xinjiang Zhongrong (0.40 million tonnes/year), Xinjiang Haoyuan (0.60 million tonnes/year), and Shandong Qixiang (0.15 million tonnes/year); all three facilities are scheduled to begin trial runs successively between October and December. Additionally, the capacity expansion project by Huizhou Yuxin (0.12 million tonnes/year) is expected to come online earlier, in August. Regarding bio-fermentation, the only project scheduled for launch is Inner Mongolia Pengtai Bio-tech’s 0.10 million tonnes/year syngas-to-ethanol facility.

6. [Benzene] Effective from the settlement on July 10, 2026 (Friday), the daily price limit for benzene futures contracts will be adjusted from 7% to 6%; the daily price limit for benzene futures contracts BZ2608 and BZ2609 will be adjusted from 12% to 8%.

7. [Styrene] On July 8, Lihuayi Weiyuan Chemical Co., Ltd. quoted styrene at 7,500 RMB/ton, an increase of 180 RMB/ton from the previous trading day.

8. [Potassium Chloride] As of July 7, port inventories of imported potassium chloride stood at 124,000 tonnes at Machong Port, 137,000 tonnes at Yingkou Port, 65,000 tonnes at Yantai Port, and 350,000 tonnes at Fangchenggang Port.

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