Asian Markets
December 15, 2025
Kumho Mitsui to Increase MDI Capacity
Kumho Mitsui Chemicals to Increase Capacity of MDI Production Facilities
Ensuring a steady supply of high-performance materials for mobility and housing
2025.12.15
Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Tokyo: 4183; President & CEO: HASHIMOTO Osamu) today announced that affiliate Kumho Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (Seoul, South Korea; CEO: PARK Chan-Koo) has decided to further increase the capacity of its production facilities for methylene diphenyl diisocyanate.
Overview of capacity increase
| 1. Product | Methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) |
|---|---|
| 2. Location | Yeosu, Jeonnam, South Korea |
| 3. Capacity increase | 100,000 tons/year (610,000 tons/year → 710,000 tons/year) |
| 4. Schedule (tentative) | Start of construction in February 2026 End of construction in May 2027 |
MDI is a key raw material for polyurethane, widely used in automotive parts, furniture and bedding, insulation for homes and refrigerators, elastic fibers, and various adhesives. Demand for MDI is projected to grow at an annual rate of 5 percent going forward on account of policy measures around the globe to improve residential insulation as a means of global warming suppression, as well as due to the heightened demand accompanying economic growth.
Kumho Mitsui Chemicals manufactures and sells high-performance monomeric, modified, and high-viscosity polymeric types of MDI used for making auto parts, elastic fibers, and highly flame-retardant insulation materials, as well as commodity polymeric MDI used for making housing and home appliance insulation. The facility is already operating at full capacity following a 200,000-ton capacity increase in 2024. With this new capacity increase, Kumho Mitsui Chemicals will be able to accommodate growing demand for not only automotive materials, but also the high-performance MDI used in flame-retardant insulation materials.
Furthermore, this move will make full use of the recycling facilities introduced during the previous 200,000-ton capacity increase, reducing GHG emissions per unit of MDI produced. Through these efforts, Kumho Mitsui Chemicals aims to simultaneously reduce the plant’s carbon footprint while improving energy efficiency, thereby contributing to cost rationalization and the establishment of a sustainable production system.
Kumho Mitsui Chemicals is aiming to become a global leader for MDI. With this capacity increase, Mitsui Chemicals will pursue both expansion of the MDI business – which is projected for continued growth going forward – and further improvements to the performance of its MDI products.
Overview of Kumho Mitsui Chemicals
| 1. Establishment | March 1989 |
|---|---|
| 2. Capital | 35 billion won |
| 3. Ownership | Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. : 50% Kumho Petrochemical Co., Ltd. : 50% |
| 4. HQ & plant location | Headquarters: Seoul, South Korea Plant: Yeosu, Jeonnam, South Korea |
| 5. Business | Production and sale of MDI |
https://jp.mitsuichemicals.com/en/release/2025/2025_1215_1/index.htm
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.
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