Dongxing Securities·2025-12-18 08:43Group 1 - The core view of the report indicates that the chemical industry in China is expected to see a bottoming out and improvement in supply-demand dynamics, with a marginal recovery in industry prosperity anticipated for 2026 [4][5][45] - In 2025, the chemical price index is projected to decline slightly, remaining in a low prosperity phase, but global energy costs have retreated from their highs, leading to positive changes in supply, demand, and inventory [4][15][45] - The report highlights that supply-side investment growth in the chemical industry is slowing, driven by anti-competitive policies and the exit of outdated overseas production capacities, which alleviates supply-side pressure [4][30][37] Group 2 - The report identifies three key investment directions for 2026: sub-industries with improving supply-demand dynamics, leading companies driven by capital expenditure and R&D, and high-end chemical new materials benefiting from increased demand or domestic substitution [5][46][57] - Sub-industries expected to see recovery include titanium dioxide, certain pesticide varieties, chemical fibers, and refrigerants, as traditional demand stabilizes and new industries emerge [5][49][57] - Leading companies are expected to concentrate capital expenditure on capacity expansion and high-value downstream products, with significant capital expenditures noted for companies like China Petroleum and Wanhua Chemical [6][51][52] Group 3 - The report emphasizes the ongoing domestic substitution in high-end chemical new materials, particularly in electronic chemical materials and ceramics, driven by the growth of emerging industries such as AI and biomedical applications [7][54][56] - The demand for electronic chemical materials is anticipated to increase as domestic companies make technological advancements and penetrate supply chains for semiconductor and display panel materials [55] - The ceramic materials market is expected to grow significantly due to new applications in biomedical fields, providing a new growth engine for high-end ceramic materials [56]