Lead: In the first half of 2026, China's bisphenol A consumption reached 2.3323 million tons, up 4.11% year-on-year. PC and epoxy resin remained the primary consumers during this period.
During the first half of 2026, China's bisphenol A consumption exhibited a trend of decline, increase, and then decline. On a monthly basis, February saw the lowest consumption of the half-year at 372,300 tons, mainly due to the Chinese New Year holiday, which led to the customary shutdown of downstream epoxy resin plants. In March, downstream epoxy resin operations fully resumed, with industry operating rates rising. Additionally, the impact of the US-Iran war caused a sharp increase in prices across the entire supply chain. Downstream orders were satisfactory, and industry profits improved, driving up consumption from major downstream sectors to reach the half-year peak of 435,800 tons. From April to June, bisphenol A consumption declined, primarily due to poor transmission of high costs, weakening end-user orders, and gradually declining industry profits. In particular, concentrated maintenance in the downstream PC sector reduced its operating rate, thereby lowering bisphenol A consumption.
China's bisphenol A consumption remains concentrated in PC and epoxy resin, which together account for over 97% of total consumption. Therefore, monitoring these two downstream sectors is key to assessing bisphenol A demand. In the first half of 2026, consumption from the two major downstream sectors—PC and epoxy resin—totaled 2.1627 million tons, down 1.01% year-on-year. This decline was mainly due to concentrated maintenance at PC plants from April to June, resulting in a lower industry operating rate for the half-year. PC consumption accounted for approximately 65% of total bisphenol A consumption, down 2 percentage points from the previous year, while epoxy resin consumption accounted for about 28%.
According to data from Chempricehub, China's PC production in the first half of 2026 was approximately 1.671 million tons, down 1% year-on-year and 5.16% quarter-on-quarter. This translates to a bisphenol A consumption of about 1.504 million tons. The average operating rate of the PC industry was around 78% during the first half of 2026. Higher raw material bisphenol A prices, coupled with concentrated maintenance in the PC sector, led to a decline in industry operating rates.
In the first half of 2026, China's epoxy resin production was approximately 954,800 tons, corresponding to a bisphenol A consumption of about 670,000 tons. In February, the epoxy resin industry experienced a seasonal low due to short-term shutdowns for the Chinese New Year holiday. After March, the US-Iran war triggered sharp price increases across the supply chain. However, high costs were not easily passed on, and orders were limited, resulting in a slight decline in consumption levels for the epoxy resin industry.
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