Asian Markets
November 6, 2025
BASF to Close Korean PTMEG Plant
BASF drives forward structural adjustments by consolidating Asian polytetrahydrofuran business
BASF is taking decisive action to address structural changes in the global chemical fiber market characterized by significant overcapacities, by consolidating its Asian polytetrahydrofuran (PolyTHF®)* business into its Caojing site in China, while discontinuing PolyTHF production at the Ulsan chemicals site in South Korea. The closure is targeted for completion in 2026.
This decision is part of BASF’s ongoing strategic review of its global production setup to enhance competitiveness, in line with its Winning Ways strategy.
After the closure, BASF will continue to provide its customers with a reliable supply of PolyTHF, leveraging its strong regional production presence in Caojing, China; Ludwigshafen, Germany; and Geismar, the United States, with a total annual production capacity of 250,000 metric tons.
https://www.basf.com/global/en/media/news-releases/2025/11/p-25-222
October 19, 2025
India Tariff Update
India’s exports to US plunge as Trump’s 50% tariffs bite
2 days ago
Abhishek DeyBBC News, Guwahati
India’s goods exports to the US, its largest foreign market, dropped sharply by 20% in September and nearly 40% in the last four months, as Trump’s steep tariffs took effect, data shows.
September was the first full month of Washington’s 50% tariffs on Indian goods, which kicked in on 27 August. This includes a 25% penalty for Delhi’s refusal to stop buying oil from Russia.
“US has become India’s most severely affected market since the tariff escalation began,” said Ajay Srivastava of Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), a Delhi-based think tank.
Negotiations for a trade deal between the two countries are under way, with the goal of concluding an agreement by next month.
According to GTRI, the most significant impact of the tariffs has been felt by labour-heavy sectors such as textiles, gems and jewellery, engineering goods, and chemicals, which have suffered the heaviest losses.
Shipments to the US have seen four consecutive months of decline, and are down 37.5% – from $8.8bn (£6.5bn) in May to $5.5bn in September.
The drop in exports have also contributed to India’s trade deficit (the gap between what a country imports and exports), which widened to a 13-month high of $32.15 billion in September.
Some of the reduction in exports to the US was cushioned by improved trade with countries like the UAE and China.
Trade negotiations between India and the US resumed last month after months of stalling over a number of differences. An Indian delegation is currently in the US for talks.
On Wednesday, Trump said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has agreed to stop buying Russian oil, as the US seeks to put economic pressure on the Kremlin as part of efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
A spokesperson of the Indian foreign ministry said discussions were “ongoing” with the US administration which had “shown interest in deepening energy co-operation with India”.
But major sticking points over trade still remain, including access to agriculture and dairy.
For years, Washington has pushed for greater access to India’s farm sector, seeing it as a major untapped market. But India has fiercely protected it, citing food security, livelihoods and the interests of millions of small farmers.
Until recently, the US was India’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $190bn in 2024. Trump and Modi have set a target to more than double this figure to $500bn.
October 16, 2025
Wanhua MDI Expansion Approved
EIA Approves Wanhua Fujian’s 1.5 MTPA MDI Expansion
On October 11, 2025, the Fuzhou Ecological Environment Bureau issued the “Approval Opinion on the Environmental Impact Report for the 1.5 million t/a MDI Technology-Upgrading and Capacity-Expansion Integration Project of Wanhua Chemical (Fujian) Isocyanate Co., Ltd.”, approving the project to be built at the location, in the nature and on the scale specified in the Report, and with the environmental-protection countermeasures set out therein.
The project is located on the reserved land within the existing plant area of Wanhua Chemical (Fujian) Isocyanate Co., Ltd. in the Jiangyin Port-City Economic Zone of Fuzhou. On the basis of the original 800 kt/a MDI plant, the MDI refrigerant, condensation, phosgenation and separation units will be technologically upgraded to match a 1.5 million t/a MDI capacity. Synchronous revamping and expansion of related utility and auxiliary facilities will be carried out, and reactors, towers, heat exchangers, pumps and other ancillary equipment will be procured and pre-installed. The project will add 700 kt/a MDI, 340.5 kt/a HCl and 2.6 kt/a methanol.
According to the evaluation conclusions of the Report and the technical review report (No. 2-2025-030) issued by the Fuzhou Environmental Impact Assessment Technology Centre, the project complies with the national industrial policy,meets the ecological-environment zoning-control requirements of Fujian Province and Fuzhou City, and is in line with the Fuzhou Chemical Industry Development Special Plan (2025-2030), the Jiangyin Port-City Master Plan (2018-2035) and the Industrial Development Plan for the Fuzhou Jiangyin Port-City Economic Zone as well as their respective plan-EIA requirements. Provided that all pollution-prevention and risk-prevention measures proposed in the Report are fully implemented, the project is environmentally feasible. This Bureau hereby approves the project to be constructed at the location, in the nature and on the scale specified in the Report, and with the environmental-protection countermeasures set out therein.
September 29, 2025
India Polymer Polyol ADD
India Imposes ADD on Chinese Copolymer Polyol Following DGTR Investigation
PUdaily | Updated: September 29, 2025
On September 26, 2025, the Indian government took steps to protect its domestic chemical industry from unfairly traded imports, announcing definitive anti-dumping duties on a key polymer imported from China. The decision follows an extensive investigation by the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), which found evidence of significant dumping causing material injury to a local producer.
The duties apply to imports of “Copolymer Polyol of hydroxyl value >= 23.5” (HS Codes 3907 2910 and 3907 2990), a chemical primarily used in the production of flexible foam for mattresses and other applications. The DGTR clarified that Polyester Polyol of the same grade is excluded from this measure.
The investigation, initiated in September 2024, concluded that imports from China were entering the Indian market at dumped prices, with margins ranging from 20% to over 50%. This unfair pricing undercut domestic sales and severely harmed the financial health of the sole Indian manufacturer, M/s Expanded Polymer Systems Pvt. Ltd.
The following key findings from the investigation formed the basis for the final determination:
- Massive Import Surge & Market Displacement: Import volumes from China surged by 287% (from 4,988 to 19,338 MT), seizing over 90% of the total import market. This massive influx displaced traditional suppliers from Europe and the USA and severely eroded the domestic industry’s market share.
- Significant Price Undercutting & Suppression: The landed value of Chinese imports was consistently 10-20% below the domestic industry’s price. This forced the domestic producer to suppress its prices below its own cost of sales for the entire period, directly preventing profitability.
- Severe Financial Injury: Despite a 96% growth in domestic demand, the domestic company operated at a loss with negative returns. Its capacity utilisation was critically low at around 32%, while inventories swelled by 137%, confirming financial distress due to unfair competition.
- Causal Link Established: The Authority definitively ruled out other factors like demand contraction or technological changes, concluding that the surge of low-priced, dumped imports was the primary cause of the material injury.
In its final findings, the DGTR affirmed that Expanded Polymer Systems Pvt. Ltd. constitutes a valid ‘domestic industry’ and that a direct causal link exists between the dumped imports and the injury suffered.
Recommended Anti-Dumping Duties
The DGTR has recommended the following duties (CIF value in USD per Metric Tonne) for a period of five years:
The authority stated that the imposition of these duties aligns with the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) framework and aims to restore fair competition in the Indian market. It emphasised that the measures are not intended to restrict imports but to ensure they enter India at non-injurious prices, thereby safeguarding the interests of the domestic industry.
India’s Ministry of Finance will issue the final notification for the imposition of these duties.
September 23, 2025
Catch 22
India’s Sole TDI Plant has Shut Down Again, but China’s TDI export Dividend is Expected to Continue
It is reported that on September 19, 2025, India’s Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizer and Chemicals Limited (GNFC) announced that its 50000 tons/year toluene diisocyanate (TDI) Phase II plant in Dah was safely shut down due to a sudden gas leak. The company emphasized in its statement that the accident was controlled within the factory area and did not cause any casualties or property damage.
GNFC is the only large TDI manufacturer in India, with two TDI production facilities totaling 67000 tons per year. The TDI Phase I facility has a production capacity of 17000 tons per year, while the TDI Phase II facility has a production capacity of 50000 tons per year. The gas leak occurred in the TDI Phase II unit.
As the only large TDI manufacturer in India, especially the TDI Phase II unit, there have been frequent problems, including technical failures, gas leaks.
The TDI unit of GNFC, especially the large-scale Phase II unit involved in this incident, has experienced multiple technical failures, gas leaks, and even more serious safety accidents in history. As a company that adopts DuPont technology from the United States and is controlled by local governments in India, GNFC was originally a strategic pillar for India to achieve import substitution of key chemicals. But the long-term instability of its device operation still requires imported TDI from overseas as a supplement.
Despite the fragility of domestic supply, India has repeatedly targeted China, Japan, South Korea, the European Union, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates since 2016
Wait for countries and regions to initiate anti-dumping investigations into imported TDI. The shutdown of GNFC will undoubtedly cause a shortage of TDI supply in India.
The supply-demand imbalance in the global TDI market is rapidly worsening
The discontinuation of GNFC is not an isolated event. Since the third quarter of 2025, the global TDI market has been affected by a series of unexpected and planned supply disruptions.
In July, global chemical giant Covestro’s 300000 tons/year TDI plant in Europe encountered force majeure; During the same period, there were disruptions in BASF’s facilities in South Korea, and the production capacity of Japanese companies such as Mitsui has not yet fully recovered from early shutdowns. This series of events has led to a significant contraction in overseas supply. Wanhua Chemical’s 250000 ton/year plant in Hungary has entered a 30 day maintenance period, further reducing its supply capacity to the European market. At the same time, major Chinese manufacturers have also entered the maintenance season. The abnormality of Wanhua Chemical’s domestic equipment has led to extreme shortage of spot supply and delayed shipment; Covestro and Shanghai BASF have also stated that their supply will be very limited in September and have significantly increased their product guidance prices.
On the demand side, exports have become the strongest growth engine. According to Chinese customs data, from January to August 2025, the total export volume of TDI in China reached 357000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 67.78%. Among them, 18400 tons were exported to India, accounting for 5.2%, ranking fourth among export countries. The force majeure in Europe, slow recovery of Japanese facilities, and subsequent maintenance plans for American facilities have collectively created a huge overseas demand gap.
China’s TDI export dividend is expected to continue
The unexpected shutdown of GNFC undoubtedly exacerbates the already severe overseas supply situation in the fourth quarter, and is expected to lead to severe shortages in the international market, thereby providing strong support for global TDI prices. Domestic production enterprises therefore have a broader export arbitrage window, but it may exacerbate the tight supply of goods in the domestic market, providing strong support for domestic TDI prices.
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