Introduction: In the first half of 2026, the domestic bisphenol A spot market experienced significant volatility but showed an overall upward trend. Geopolitical factors, rising raw material costs, and changes in supply and demand were the main drivers behind this upward movement. From January to June (as of June 17), the average price in the East China mainstream market stood at 9,340 RMB/ton, up 274 RMB/ton year-on-year, an increase of 3.02%.

Table 1: Comparison of Prices for H1 2025 and H1 2026 (Unit: RMB/ton)

| Item | H1 2025 | H1 2026 | Change | YoY Change | Price Type |
|------|---------|---------|--------|------------|------------|
| Domestic Average | 9,017 | 9,274 | 257 | 2.85% | - |
| East China Market | 9,066 | 9,340 | 274 | 3.02% | Cash pickup |
| North China Market | 8,975 | 9,302 | 327 | 3.64% | Cash pickup |
| Huangshan Market | 9,050 | 9,030 | -20 | -0.22% | Cash delivery |
| Shandong Market | 8,941 | 9,293 | 352 | 3.94% | Cash pickup |
| South China Market | 9,022 | 9,407 | 385 | 4.27% | Cash delivery |
| Source: chempricehub Information |

In the first quarter, the bisphenol A market surged significantly. During January and February, the market rose modestly. Early low-price pre-sales led to a decline in later inventory, tightening spot supply. Coupled with rising feedstock phenol/ketone prices and steady downstream essential demand, the bisphenol A market's center of gravity edged up. In March, the market soared sharply. The main reason: on the afternoon of February 28, the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran; Iran quickly retaliated militarily and blockaded the Strait of Hormuz. As a chain reaction, the entire industry chain saw prices rise across the board. Upstream costs increased substantially, and combined with bisphenol A's own supply pressure being low, prices were strongly pushed up. Subsequently, due to the difficulty for downstream sectors to pass on high costs, buyer demand declined, and the market center fell back. Taking the East China market as a reference, the highest price in H1 2026 was around 13,750 RMB/ton in early March.

In the second quarter, the bisphenol A market mainly trended downward. The recurring unpredictability of geopolitical developments reduced market participants' attention. Bisphenol A began to decouple from international crude oil trends and returned to being supply-demand driven. Limited new downstream orders slowed raw material procurement. Additionally, in May, two 240,000-ton/year bisphenol A units—one at Jilin Petrochemical and the other at Shandong Ruilin—were successively brought on stream. By June, the supply-demand imbalance widened, causing the bisphenol A market to decline further. However, as bisphenol A and phenol market trends diverged, industry losses for bisphenol A intensified. Some enterprises cut operating rates or halted production, which eventually stopped the decline in the bisphenol A market (as of the time of writing).