At midday close, China domestic futures main contracts were mixed with more
gains than losses. Ethylene glycol (EG) led advances, up over 5%; synthetic
rubber, polypropylene (month-average contract), asphalt and PVC rose more than
3%; polypropylene was up about 3%; coking coal and aluminum gained over 2%. On
the downside, lithium carbonate fell more than 4%, caustic soda dropped over 3%,
fiberboard slid over 2%, the container-shipping Europe route eased about 2%, and
palladium and pulp were down roughly 1%.
