Introduction: From January to May 2026, the average gross profit for the bisphenol A industry was -496 yuan/ton, a year-on-year increase of +14.19%. In the first quarter, tight supply supported higher spot prices for bisphenol A, while costs remained relatively stable, resulting in limited losses. In the second quarter, however, due to the impact of the US-Iran war, costs surged. Bisphenol A prices initially followed with a significant rise, but later declined under the pressure of poor cost pass-through and weak demand, deepening industry losses. Entering June, theoretical profit losses for bisphenol A in China continued to widen. As of June 4, the daily theoretical loss reached 1,618 yuan/ton, a decrease of 552.22% from the beginning of the year.

Cost-driven increases sharply narrowed the spread between phenol and bisphenol A.

On June 2-3, the phenol market showed a trend of stabilizing and rebounding. The main drivers were news of planned maintenance at upstream pure benzene plants and price leadership from Shandong factories. As a result, downstream inquiry activity picked up, and phenol prices rose significantly. In contrast, bisphenol A was weighed down by heavy supply pressure and weak demand, making it difficult to benefit from cost support. Bisphenol A prices fell, moving opposite to phenol, and the price spread narrowed to around 700 yuan/ton (as of June 4).

488,000 tons/year of bisphenol A capacity came onstream, increasing social inventory pressure.

Jilin Petrochemical and Shandong Ruilin each started up 240,000 tons/year bisphenol A units in May 2026, currently selling first-grade and qualified products respectively. Huizhou Zhongxin Phase I and Pingmei Shenma remain shut down. Cangzhou Dahua’s unit was shut from May 7-27, Gaohua Materials was shut from May 15 to early July, Zhejiang Petrochemical shut down for 40-45 days starting May 15, and Nanya Phase II shut down for about a month starting June 1. The average operating rate of active producers is around 61% (excluding Jilin Petrochemical and Shandong Ruilin), and social inventory is high, creating significant supply pressure in the overall bisphenol A market.

Insufficient downstream product orders and negative news reduced raw material demand.

In the first week of June, operating rates for PC and epoxy resin remained low. The PC industry operating rate was around 63%, and the epoxy resin average operating rate was around 42%. For PC: Covestro, Shanghai Mitsubishi, Zhejiang Petrochemical Phase I, Pingmei Shenma, and Zhangzhou Chimei were all under maintenance. For epoxy resin: Anhui Star, Huangshan Hengliang, and Anhui Hengyuan epoxy resin units were shut for maintenance, and Zibo Yongliu epoxy resin unit continued maintenance. The concentrated maintenance of the two major downstream sectors reduced bisphenol A consumption, and the oversupply of bisphenol A intensified, increasing price declines and dampening downstream purchasing sentiment.

Overall, due to negative supply-demand factors, bisphenol A market prices fell sharply, moving opposite to the phenol market trend. The price spread between bisphenol A and its main raw material phenol narrowed, exacerbating industry losses.

In the short term, with the restart of previously shut units, bisphenol A supply is expected to increase. Although operating rates of the two major downstream sectors are likely to rise, the supply-demand gap is still widening. Bisphenol A lacks the momentum for a rebound, while the phenol market may remain firm. Therefore, theoretical profits for bisphenol A are unlikely to see significant improvement in the near term.