China carbon black sector faces capacity, profitability pressures

Hefei, China – China’s carbon black industry is facing mounting pressure from excess capacity, weak profitability and intense domestic competition, according to the China Rubber Industry Association (CRIA).

The challenges were highlighted as more than 150 industry representatives gathered in Hefei, Anhui province, for CRIA’s 2026 Carbon Black & Silica Annual Conference, held 9-11 Sept.

Ahead of the meeting, CRIA’s ‘carbon black & silica branch’ said Chinese effective carbon black capacity had reached 9.397 million tonnes in 2025, representing 45.9% of global capacity.

Despite continued capacity expansion, “industry profitability has continued to decline,” the branch said, pointing to increasingly prominent “structural overcapacity and homogeneous competition.”

The association also identified tightening environmental requirements and China’s carbon-reduction policies as increasingly significant constraints on the sector.

Earlier in March, the CRIA carbon black brach reported that the sector was facing pressures ranging from feedstock prices and changes in downstream markets to domestic competition and international market development.

Representatives at the March industry meeting identified “homogenisation, losses from excessive internal competition, pressure from upstream and downstream, and insufficient innovation” among the sector’s core problems.

Meanwhile, more recent CRIA data has underlined the scale of the profitability challenge.

In May, citing figures from 30 key carbon black producers, the association reported that the companies generated combined first-quarter revenue of Yuan8.77 billion (€1.1 billion), but posted an aggregate loss of Yuan210 million.

The average profit margin, CRIA noted, was negative 2.44%, with 16 of the 30 companies loss-making.

CRIA said the figures demonstrated a divergence between scale and profitability, noting that eight of the 10 largest companies by revenue were loss-making.

The association has called for the industry to respond through technological upgrading, tighter cost control, greater industrial integration and greener development, while strengthening its competitiveness in international markets.