IMCD : IPPI April 2026: pricing higher again, China export volumes rebound

Research evidence excerpt

IMCD : IPPI April 2026: pricing higher again, China export volumes rebound

EQUITIES

CHEMICALS

IMCD OUTPERFORMPRICE* EUR91.7  TARGET PRICE EUR120 (UPSIDE 31%)

IMCD ADR OUTPERFORMPRICE* USD53.4  TARGET PRICE USD70 (UPSIDE 31%)

FLASH NOTE

IPPI April 2026: pricing higher again, China export volumes rebound

21 MAY 2026 Securities Research Report Production time: 12:17* (London time)

Research Analyst & Publishing Entities

David Symonds BNP Paribas London Branch (+44) 203 430 8496 david.symonds@uk.bnpparibas.com

IPPI background

We introduced our proprietary IMCD Product Price Index (IPPI) in January (full detail of the composition here IMCD:

Quantifying the China price pressure). With this dataset we track changes in price and quantity of Chinese exports

under HS codes which we believe represent products that could compete with IMCD’s portfolio, as a proxy for

competitive pressure.

Conclusions for April

April continues to show impacts of the Iran conflict on our pricing index. The weighted average pricing index was +4.6%

YoY vs +0.7% in March, the strongest reading since August 2022. Some of the anomalies we highlighted last month,

such as the acrylic acid export price being negative YoY despite big price rises domestically, have now corrected; acrylic

acid export prices are +33% YoY in the April data. The percentage of products with price increases rose further to 43%,

from 38% in March/ 27% in February. None of this is particularly surprising given the well-known inflationary impacts of

the Iran conflict. Weighted average export volume growth rebounded from 6.2% in March to 23.5% in April, with %

products increasing in volume rising from 53% to 73%; both of these metrics are back in line with strong expansion

seen in February.