Report Title - The Q4 2025 Quarterly Report on Polyolefins by Guantong Futures: New Capacity Commissioning Puts Pressure, Polyolefins to Oscillate Weakly [1] Core Viewpoints - Polyolefins are gradually exiting the maintenance season, with the operating rate expected to rise in October. Import profit is average, and import volume is expected to remain low. In Q4, new PE and PP capacities of 2.7 million tons/year and 950,000 tons/year will be commissioned respectively. Multiple units are scheduled to start operation by the end of the year, having little impact on the 01 contract. Attention should be paid to the commissioning progress of new capacities. The demand for polyolefins in Q4 will improve quarter-on-quarter but perform averagely compared to the same period in previous years. New orders are mediocre. Amid the global trade war, enterprises' early rush for exports and the pre - consumption of national subsidies may overdraw the Q4 demand. Although downstream enterprises have stocked up, they remain cautious. Crude oil prices will still face pressure in Q4, and the cost support for polyolefin prices is expected to be limited. Petrochemical inventories are at a neutral level compared to the same period in recent years. Recently, polyolefin traders' inventories have decreased but are still at a relatively high level compared to the same period in recent years. There is no actual anti - involution policy in the polyolefin industry yet. Anti - involution and the elimination of old - fashioned devices to solve the problem of overcapacity in the petrochemical industry are still macro - policies that will affect subsequent market conditions and are worthy of close attention. It is expected that polyolefins will oscillate weakly in Q4 under the scenario of both supply and demand increasing [5][110]. Summary by Directory Polyolefin Futures Price Trends - The report presents the daily K - lines of the plastic weighted contract and the PP weighted contract [8][10] Plastic Spot Prices - It shows the spot prices of plastics in North China and the spot price (CFR, mid - price) of linear low - density polyethylene in the Far East [14][16] Plastic Basis Trends - Since 2025, the plastic basis has been continuously weakening from a historical high, reaching a low of - 136 yuan/ton in late July. Recently, with stable spot prices and continuous decline in futures prices, the plastic basis has rebounded to around 200 yuan/ton, at a relatively low - neutral level. The PP basis has declined slightly recently but remains at a neutral position [23][29] Plastic Production - In August 2025, the PE maintenance volume decreased by 9.63% month - on - month to 457,900 tons, an increase of 25.42% year - on - year. The cumulative PE maintenance volume from January to August 2025 increased by 0.86% year - on - year to 3.2809 million tons, at the highest level in the same period in history. In August 2025, the PE output increased by 2.52% month - on - month to 2.7702 million tons, an increase of 15.38% year - on - year. The cumulative PE output from January to August 2025 increased by 17.24% year - on - year to 21.6233 million tons, also at the highest level in the same period in history [34] Plastic Operating Rate - In August 2025, the PE operating rate increased by 2.37 percentage points month - on - month to 81.3%, a decrease of 1.17 percentage points year - on - year, at a relatively low - neutral level among the same period in previous years. Recently, the operating rate has risen to around 85% and is currently at a neutral level. With the planned restart of some maintenance units at the end of September, the plastic operating rate is expected to rise slightly [39] Plastic Under - Maintenance Units - Besides long - term shut - down units such as those of North Huajin HDPE and Shenyang Chemical's full - density units, new units in 2025 like those of Lianyungang Petrochemical HDPE and Zhonghan Petrochemical LLDPE are still under maintenance [41] Plastic Planned Maintenance Units in Q4 - According to Longzhong Information, there are not many PE units planned for maintenance in Q4 2025, involving a total capacity of 3.18 million tons. Some units will be under maintenance for more than 30 days [44] Plastic New Capacities - In the first three quarters of 2025, multiple new capacities were commissioned, with a total of 3.43 million tons/year. In Q4 2025, the expected new capacity is 2.7 million tons. Some new capacities are expected to be commissioned in October, while others at the end of the year, having little impact on the 2025 output. There is also a possibility of delay in the commissioning of new capacities in Q4 [48] PP Production - In August 2025, the PP maintenance volume decreased by 8.76% month - on - month to 657,900 tons, an increase of 8.89% year - on - year. The cumulative PP maintenance volume from January to August 2025 increased by 5.13% year - on - year to 5.0087 million tons, at the highest level in the same period in history. In August 2025, the PP output increased by 2.32% month - on - month to 3.5045 million tons, an increase of 18.00% year - on - year. The cumulative PP output from January to August 2025 increased by 16.92% year - on - year to 26.3476 million tons, at the highest level in the same period in history [52] PP Operating Rate - In August 2025, the PP operating rate increased by 1.65 percentage points month - on - month to 78.80%, an increase of 3.55 percentage points year - on - year, at a relatively low - neutral level. Recently, the operating rate has dropped to around 79% due to new maintenance units, and the production ratio of standard - grade drawstring has risen to around 30%. It is expected that the operating rate will recover in early October [57] PP Under - Maintenance Units - Besides long - term shut - down units such as those of Dalian Petrochemical and Wuhan Petrochemical, new units in 2025 like those of Qilu Petrochemical and Luoyang Petrochemical are still under maintenance [60] PP Planned Maintenance Units in Q4 - In Q4, multiple PP units are planned for maintenance, and the maintenance is expected to be concentrated from October to November [63] PP New Capacities - In the first three quarters of 2025, 4.155 million tons of new PP capacities were commissioned. In Q4 2025, the expected new capacity is 950,000 tons, with some units planned to be commissioned in December [66] Plastic Imports and Exports - In August 2025, China's PE imports were 950,200 tons, a decrease of 22.14% year - on - year and 14.17% month - on - month, at the lowest level in the same period in previous years. The cumulative PE imports from January to August 2025 were 8.9816 million tons, a decrease of 0.84% year - on - year. In August 2025, China's PE exports were 116,000 tons, an increase of 61.83% year - on - year and 14.12% month - on - month, at the highest level in the same period in previous years. The cumulative PE exports from January to August 2025 were 729,700 tons, an increase of 25.91% year - on - year. In August 2025, the net PE imports were 834,200 tons, a decrease of 27.36% year - on - year. The cumulative net PE imports from January to August 2025 were 8.2518 million tons, a decrease of 2.66% year - on - year. The LLDPE import profit is currently negative, and with the release of domestic capacities, the net PE imports are expected to remain low [72] PP Imports and Exports - In August 2025, China's PP imports were 247,000 tons, a decrease of 21.39% year - on - year and 12.54% month - on - month, at the lowest level in the same period in recent years. The cumulative PP imports from January to August 2025 were 2.1676 million tons, a decrease of 9.77% year - on - year. In August 2025, China's PP exports were 275,900 tons, an increase of 29.83% year - on - year and 4.76% month - on - month, at the highest level in the same period in previous years. The cumulative PP exports from January to August 2025 were 2.1035 million tons, an increase of 29.03% year - on - year. The PP drawstring import window is closed, and the import volume is expected to be low [78] Polyolefin Downstream - From January to August 2025, the cumulative output of plastic products was 52.1815 million tons, a year - on - year increase of 3.6%, but the cumulative year - on - year growth rate decreased slightly. In August, the year - on - year growth rate was - 4.1%. The cumulative export value of plastic products from January to August 2025 was 500.396 billion yuan, a year - on - year decrease of 0.5%, with a slightly rising growth rate but still negative. In August, the year - on - year growth rate dropped to 0.8%, a decrease of 2.5 percentage points month - on - month. From January to August 2025, the cumulative year - on - year growth rate of the domestic total retail sales of consumer goods was 3.4%, slower than the 3.7% from January to July. The cumulative year - on - year growth rate of the total retail sales of consumer goods has been slowing down since May, indicating increasing pressure on domestic demand. As of the week of September 26, the PE downstream operating rate increased by 1.21 percentage points week - on - week to 44.13%, and the PP downstream operating rate increased by 0.40 percentage points week - on - week to 51.85%, both at relatively low levels in the same period in previous years [83][89][94] Polyolefin Inventories - After the Spring Festival in 2025, petrochemical inventories were at an average level compared to the same period in recent years. As of September 26, petrochemical inventories decreased by 30,000 tons week - on - week to 585,000 tons, 105,000 tons lower than the same period last year. Recently, polyolefin traders' inventories have decreased but are still at a relatively high level compared to the same period in recent years [102] Polyolefin Profits - In September, the coal - based and oil - based PE profits decreased slightly due to a slight decline in PE prices. In September, the profits of all PP production processes declined to varying degrees. The coal - based PP production process remained profitable, while the other processes were still in the red, with the MTO process having a relatively large loss [108]