Advanced Materials Price Trend Daily, 24 Aug 2026 | Brent Breaks $94 and Reignites Costs, PI Film Lands a Second 20%+ Hike, PTFE Grades Split Further

Price Trend Daily Report – 2026-08-24

Key takeaway: Brent crude surged 6.4% in a single week to break $94/bbl, lifting the cost floor across the entire chain. PI film’s second round of 20%+ hikes has landed in July–August, making it the only genuine seller’s market this period. PTFE grade divergence is widening — commodity powder under pressure while electronic grades hold. High-end and low-end zirconia have fully decoupled.

Price Overview

Notable Moves

• Brent crude: +6.4% week on week. Brent settled at USD 94.39/bbl on 21 August and WTI at USD 87.06/bbl, a sixth consecutive session of gains and a three-week high. Crude transiting the Strait of Hormuz has fallen from a normal ~21.6 million bpd to 4.9 million bpd, with only 73 vessel transits in the week (versus 91 the prior week). The IEA now puts the Q3 global deficit at 1.8 million bpd, and observed global inventories fell 69 million barrels in July to below 7.9 billion barrels — the first time since April 2025. The US Treasury Secretary has said the “largest coordinated economic isolation in history” against Iran will be detailed on 24 August. This is the biggest variable this period: cost floors for acrylonitrile, dianhydrides/diamines and the fluorochemical chain will move up systemically, with pass-through expected within two to four weeks.

• PI film: second round of 20%+ hikes confirmed. After a 20%–30% rise in Q2, prices went up more than 20% again in July–August — two rounds stacked. UBE has 80% of its electronic-grade capacity locked by downstream long-term contracts, and Kaneka, having raised global prices 20% on 16 April, is preparing another increase. The gap is structural: industry demand of 28,000 t against supply of 18,000 t. PSPI (DRAM/HBM passivation) demand is roughly 400 t in 2026, doubling to 800 t in 2027; MPI (memory packaging and optical modules) goes from 3,000–4,000 t to 7,000 t. Global supply sits with five or six offshore producers with no new capacity planned before 2030 — only incremental debottlenecking — and they prioritise Samsung, SK Hynix and TSMC. Shortage is expected to persist beyond 2028, with mainland China the tightest region.

• PTFE: structural divergence widening. Mainstream suspension medium granule is under pressure at RMB 44,000–46,000/t while Shandong low-end quotes remain at RMB 31,800/t — an intra-month spread above 40%. Upstream fluorspar and anhydrous HF stay firm and R22 quota controls keep supply tight, so the cost floor holds, but pass-through remains blocked. Leading producers have softened list prices modestly, mid-size and small plants face growing destocking pressure and are discounting more actively. Commodity powder is falling hardest; high-end electronic and lithium-battery fine powders are relatively resilient.

• Zirconia: high and low end fully decoupled. Zircon sand 65% has eased to about RMB 11,300/t and zirconium oxychloride holds at RMB 19,000/t, yet high-end yttria-stabilised zirconia is on an independent uptrend. Japan’s Tosoh has suspended dental-grade powder supply after losing yttria feedstock, creating a shortfall of roughly 6,000 t/year at the high end, and Sinocera raised zirconia powder prices 10%–40% effective 27 July. Year to date, zircon sand is up 17%, zirconium oxychloride 36% and yttria 21%.

• Carbon fibre: flat on the week, recovering on the month. Jilin T300/12K stands at RMB 100/kg (+5.3% MoM) and T300/25K at RMB 90/kg (+5.9%); Jiangsu T700/12K is flat at RMB 105/kg while Guotai Dacheng offers T700/12K at RMB 135/kg. Industry cost is RMB 114,145/t (+3.2% MoM) with gross margin still negative at RMB -10,002/t. Inventory has eased slightly to 13,230 t, July output reached 11,295 t (+9.5% MoM) and utilisation was 69.8%. The rebound is cost-driven repair, not demand-led.

• PEEK: flat. Domestic virgin resin is RMB 300,000–400,000/t and imported material RMB 550,000–1,000,000/t. The humanoid-robot narrative has cooled, and continued domestic capacity ramp-up at Zhongyan and Jida plus import substitution has rebalanced supply and demand.

Impact Analysis

Procurement cost. The oil rally will lift acrylonitrile, BPDA/PMDA dianhydrides and diamines within two to four weeks, feeding directly into PI film and carbon fibre precursor costs. PI film is the largest cost item this period and electronic grades have entered a “price without volume” phase — packaging, optical-module and AI-server BOMs must be repriced immediately (PI content is worth roughly RMB 20 per 800G optical module and RMB 32.7 per 1.6T unit). Commodity PTFE and metallurgical alumina remain low and are the only categories where cost can still be squeezed this period. High-end zirconia, by contrast, directly raises costs for dental, MLCC and PCB grinding-media applications.

Supply chain. PI film — especially PSPI and MPI — and high-end yttria-stabilised zirconia are seller’s markets with lengthening lead times, and offshore capacity is reserved for offshore majors, so Chinese buyers must secure volume via long-term contracts and prepayment. Buyers retain leverage in PTFE, but the same strategy cannot be applied to commodity and electronic grades alike. Carbon fibre has ample domestic capacity and the best supply elasticity, with part of Zhongfu Shenying’s 30,000 t Lianyungang project already onstream. Tanker risk premiums will simultaneously raise landed costs and insurance on imported material.

Actionable Recommendations

Materials to lock in now

• PI film (electronic grade / MPI / PSPI) — sign three- to six-month contracts or an annual framework. Securing volume matters more than securing price right now; a 10%–15% premium for allocation is acceptable. Start qualifying a domestic second source in parallel (Rui Hua Tai’s MPI has passed certification at two memory makers and already ships into optical modules).
• High-end zirconia powder (yttria-stabilised / dental grade) — Tosoh’s 6,000 t/year gap remains unfilled; lock Q4 allocation with Sinocera or another domestic leader as soon as possible.
• Carbon fibre T700-12K — cost is up 3.2% MoM with industry margins negative, and RMB 105/kg sits close to cash cost. Lock three to six months forward.
• PTFE dispersion resin and high-end electronic fine powder — producer inventories are low and a catch-up move with HF is likely. Build two to four weeks of cover early.

Materials to monitor

• PTFE commodity suspension medium granule — the weak, choppy phase has not ended and the supply-demand balance remains soft. Wait two to four weeks for confirmed stabilisation and build inventory in tranches rather than all at once.
• Alumina (metallurgical grade) — supply strong, demand weak. September is expected to range-trade low at RMB 2,580–2,780/t (monthly average near 2,680). Two to three weeks of safety stock is sufficient.
• PEEK standard industrial grade — domestic capacity keeps expanding and the price centre is drifting lower, so buy to need. Only aerospace- and medical-certified grades warrant annual framework agreements.

Signals to watch closely: daily vessel transits through the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian export loadings; the US sanctions detail due 24 August; China’s fuel price adjustment window at midnight on 28 August (institutions estimate an increase of about RMB 370/t, equal to RMB 0.27–0.30 per litre of gasoline); further developments in yttria export controls; and the timing of Kaneka’s next PI price increase letter.

This report is compiled from publicly available market data for reference only. Procurement decisions should factor in your own inventory position, payment terms and supplier relationships.

Market Intelligence Officer | New Materials Price Trend Monitoring | 2026-08-24