May 21 News – This week (May 15–21, 2026), the average capacity utilization rate of caustic soda sample enterprises with an annual capacity of 100,000 metric tons or above in China stood at 79.8%, down 1.2% week-on-week. Chempricehub evaluates caustic soda with a bullish-bearish score as follows: 1. On the spot market, the capacity utilization rate of domestic caustic soda sample enterprises (≥100,000 mt/year) was 79.8% this week, a decrease of 1.2 percentage points week-on-week. The slight contraction in supply provides supportive fundamentals for spot prices. 2. On the futures market, as of May 20, 2026, the main caustic soda contract (2607) closed at RMB 2,025 per metric ton, with a settlement price of RMB 2,023 per metric ton, up RMB 7 per metric ton from the previous trading day. Open interest stood at 261,191 lots. Expectations of supply contraction lend bullish support to futures prices.