2026 Global Chemical Giants Semi-Annual Report: Industry Profitability Shows Clear Recovery, Performance Divergence Intensifies

Recently, major global chemical companies such as BASF, Dow, and Wanhua Chemical have successively disclosed their operating results for the second quarter and the first half of 2026. Overall, the global chemical industry has entered a window of profit recovery, with many companies turning losses into gains. However, due to fluctuations in downstream demand and raw material prices, performance differentiation among regions and sub-sectors has become more pronounced.

European chemical leaders overall show an increase in revenue and a significant improvement in profitability. BASF recorded sales of €17.206 billion in the second quarter, with operating profit rising 137.1% year-on-year; INEOS, Covestro, and Wacker Chemie all successfully turned losses into profits. However, not all enterprises performed positively; Evonik‘s profits slightly declined, Lanxess further expanded its losses, and Solvay saw both revenue and profit decrease, indicating varied performance among companies within Europe.

The divergence among U.S. chemical companies is significant. Dow turned profitable in the second quarter, saying goodbye to previous large losses; Wanhua Chemical also completed a turnaround. Ecolab and DuPont showed steady growth in revenue and profits, while Celanese and IFF experienced a decline in profits, with some segments under pressure.

The Asian chemical sector emerged as a major highlight in this mid-year report, with domestic leaders in refining and chemical fibers showing explosive performance. Wanhua Chemical recorded revenue of 119.316 billion yuan in the first half of the year, with net profit attributable to shareholders of 10.063 billion yuan, up 64.35% year on year; Hengyi Petrochemical, Oriental Shenghong, and Rongsheng Petrochemical achieved several-fold increases in net profit, with the benefits of integrated refining and chemical operations continuing to be released. Taiwanese chemical companies collectively turned profitable; most Japanese and Korean chemical companies experienced substantial profit growth; Saudi Arabia’s SABIC, however, shifted from profit to loss, underperforming the industry average.

Each sub-sector has shown different performance. In the industrial gases sector, Linde and Air Liquide have experienced steady growth, while Air Products reported significant losses; the crop science sector remained generally stable; fertilizer companies displayed polarized results, with Yara showing profit improvement and Mosaic falling into losses; leading companies in the coatings sector saw stable growth in both revenue and profit.

Analysis suggests that the current recovery in chemical company profits benefits from improved chemical product margins and constraints on certain overseas production capacities. However, the industry has not fully recovered, and downstream demand strength as well as raw material cost fluctuations will continue to affect company profits. In the future, integrated operations and high value-added specialty materials businesses will remain key levers for chemical companies to navigate through economic cycles.