Asia petrochemical shares track Wall Street rout on US tariff, recession worries

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Shares of petrochemical companies in Asia tumbled on Tuesday, tracking Wall Street’s rout overnight on fears of a US recession caused by tariffs.

At 01:30 GMT, Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical Corp was down 4.2% in Taipei; South Korea’s LG Chem and Hanwha Solutions were down by 3.24% and 4.28%, respectively, in Seoul; and Malaysia’s PETRONAS Chemicals Group (PCG) slipped 2.17% in Kuala Lumpur.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 fell by 2.75% to 36,008.90; South Korea’s KOSPI Composite was down by 2.18% at 2,514.36; and China’s CSI 300 index slipped by 0.39% to 3,928.80, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index down 0.88% at 23,573.53.

Uncertainty over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs reigns as some levies imposed on Canada and Mexico, such as automotives, were delayed to 2 April; while 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports are set for 12 March. For aluminium, the tariffs were raised from 10% previously.

On Chinese imports, the US’ 20% tariffs took effect from 4 March, to which China responded with retaliatory levies on US poultry and agriculture products such as chicken, corn, beef and wheat, which took effect on 10 March.

Trump’s actions of announcing the tariffs and then deferring the measure on trading partners – particularly Canada and Mexico – were creating confusion in the equities markets.

This uncertainty would add inflationary pressures and raise prices of goods in the world’s biggest economy, analysts said.

Oil prices also dipped on Tuesday morning in Asia amid the US tariff uncertainty even as the country threatens to impose further sanctions on Iranian and Russian energy.

At 01:40 GMT, Brent crude oil futures were down 0.40% to $69.00/bbl, while US West Texas Intermediate futures fell 0.58% to $65.65/bbl.

Thumbnail image: At Qingdao port in Shandong province, China on 6 March 2025. (Costfoto/NurPhoto/Shutterstock)