Chemical Industry Recovery Underway — Fine Chemicals and Rubber Auxiliaries Embrace Structural Opportunities

Entering April 2026, obvious structural warming signals have emerged in the domestic chemical industry. The latest research report from Morgan Stanley points out that the Chinese chemical industry is expected to start in 2026–2028a new round of upward cycle, and the restoration of industry profitability and the rebound of valuation are worth looking forward to. The research reports of many securities firms judge that2026 is most likely the starting point of a new round of upward cycle in the chemical sector. Driven by the "anti - involution" policy, backward production capacity is accelerating its exit, and the industry pattern is being reshaped.

Fine chemicals have become the key support direction of policies. The "Implementation Plan for the Innovation and Development of the Fine Chemical Industry (2024–2027)" issued by the state clearly encourages the development of green and high - end chemical products, and focuses on supporting the high - value - added sub - fields such as new chemical materials and special chemicals. Fine chemical products such as rubber additives, antioxidants, and polymerization inhibitors are the direct beneficiaries of this policy.

The prosperity of the rubber additive industry continues to rise. In the first half of 2024, the output of rubber additives in China reached 837,600 tons, a year - on - year increase of 13.04%; the export value of rubber additives reached 4.705 billion yuan, and the export volume increased by 18.49% year - on - year. Entering the beginning of 2026,the weekly increase of the rubber additive sub - sector once reached 7.56%, ranking among the top in the increase of various sub - industries in the chemical industry. From the perspective of product prices, the quotations of rubber additives such as accelerator NS and CZ are rising steadily, reflecting the warming demand in the downstream tire and rubber product industries.

The demand structure of the antioxidant market is upgrading. The demand for high - performance antioxidants in downstream fields such as automobile manufacturing, plastic masterbatches, inks, and new energy materials continues to grow. Nano - grade antioxidants, continuous production processes, and green and environmentally friendly formulations have become the directions for industry technological upgrading. From a global perspective, the global market size of rubber processing aids was about 2.195 billion US dollars in 2023, and it is expected to reach 2.97 billion US dollars in 2030, with an annual compound growth rate of 4.5%.

For "specialized, refined, characteristic, and innovative" enterprises like Purity Chemical, which have been deeply involved indiphenylamine, polymerization inhibitors, high - end antioxidantsand other fine chemical fields, the combination of this round of industry warming and policy dividends is opening up new growth space.