Global Chemical Earnings Ride Price, Currency And Inventory – 10 Aug 2026

Profit Growth—with Accounting Caveats

Kuraray — first-half earnings quality: top-line and operating profit rose, but net income barely increased and ROIC slipped to 4.8%

Kuraray isoprene turns profitable, but accounting and base effects temper the volume signal

MGC profit surges, but inventory and market prices cloud the operating signal

Nippon Shokubai — Q1 profit surge with valuation tailwind: the profit surge combines operating improvement with inventory effects and yen/raw-material inflation

Revenue Rises, Profit Disappoints

Kuraray vinyl acetate — sales up, profit down

AdvanSix — sales growth against earnings collapse: price-led sales growth masks a severe fall in profit and volume

LANXESS — revenue growth with margin and net-income pressure: sales and EBITDA increased, but margin narrowed and the net loss widened

Forecast Upgrades Meet Profit Limits

Kuraray — sales forecast raised, profit held: a higher revenue forecast does not translate into higher profit guidance

Mitsubishi Gas Chemical — forecast raised, Q2 normalization expected: full-year upgrade coexists with a forecast 52.8% sequential operating-profit decline in Q2

Nippon Shokubai — higher revenue forecast despite lower sales volume

Mixed Operations and Diverging Segments

Mitsubishi Gas Chemical — AI/semiconductor-material demand: demand was robust, but some segment profit also reflects pass-through, inventory gains and lower depreciation after impairment

JGC Holdings — sales fall while profit rises

LANXESS — segment divergence: group growth masks sharply different segment profitability