Asia petrochemical shares, China futures markets mixed as Trump takes US reins

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Shares of petrochemical firms in Asia and China’s commodity futures markets closed mixed on Tuesday, with no immediate announcement of new tariffs from the US on the first day of Donald Trump’s second term as president.

South Korea’s LG Chem closed 4.75% lower in Seoul , while Japan’s Mitsubishi Chemical finished 1.85% higher in Tokyo.

China’s state oil and gas firm PetroChina was down 1.40%, while chemicals major Sinopec ended down 1.62% in Hong Kong.

The CSI 300 Index, a benchmark for Chinese mainland shares, edged up 0.08% to close at 3,832.61.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose by 0.32% to settle at 39,027.98, while South Korea’s KOSPI Composite Index ended 0.08% lower at 2,518.03.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index finished the session 0.91% higher at 20,106.55.

Singapore’s Straits Times Index (STI) was trading 0.27% lower at 3,797.61 at 08:44 GMT.

Analysts said that markets have already pre-digested the “Trump effect”.

In his presidential campaign, Trump had threatened to impose tariffs on all US imports.

His first four-year term as US president in 2017-2021 sparked the US-China trade war.

In China, six out of nine petrochemical futures markets posted declines on Tuesday.

CNY/tonne	21-Jan	% change from previous session
Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE)	7,808	-0.3%
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)	5,304	0.6%
Ethylene glycol (EG)	4,753	-0.2%
Polypropylene (PP)	7,400	-0.7%
Styrene monomer (SM)	8,520	0.0%
Paraxylene *	7,420	-0.1%
Purified terephthalic acid (PTA)*	5,192	-0.2%
Methanol*	2,591	0.6%
Polyethylene terephthalate  (PET)*	6,388	-0.2%

Sources: Dalian Commodity Exchange, *Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange

Overall trading activity in China’s petrochemical markets is waning as many players have suspended trading to prepare for the upcoming Lunar new year holiday, which will last eight days from 28 January.

($1 = CNY7.28)

Additional reporting by Nurluqman Suratman