Original title: China’s Chemicals Makers Reap Reward of Shift From Oil to Coal
Falling coal prices are shifting the profitability of China’s chemicals sector, away from traditional oil-based producers to the growing number of plants that use the solid fuel as their feedstock. China’s biggest coal-to-chemicals producer, Ningxia Baofeng Energy Group Co., saw first-half profits surge 73%, while top miner China Shenhua Energy Co. reported a near 20-fold increase at its Inner Mongolia chemicals facility. Meanwhile, oil refining giant Sinopec lost 4.5 billion yuan ($630 million) at its chemicals unit over the first six months of the year, even worse than the 3.6 billion yuan it shed in the same period in 2024.