China’s butanediol market is facing a new supply question after Wuheng Chemical suspended operations at its No.1 BDO plant in Ningxia. Market sources told that the facility was taken offline on September 15, 2025, to undergo maintenance work.
The company has not issued an official statement and has yet to confirm how long the shutdown will last. Traders and downstream buyers are watching closely, since the lack of a timeline leaves uncertainty around regional availability of butanediol, a key intermediate used in producing plastics, solvents, and elastic fibers.
Wuheng’s Ningxia site is a significant contributor to domestic supply, with a production capacity of 116,000 metric tons per year. Any extended outage could tighten local inventories and put upward pressure on prices if demand remains steady in the coming weeks.
Industry participants note that scheduled maintenance is common in the BDO sector, but the absence of a clear restart date adds an element of caution to near-term market planning. Until Wuheng Chemical provides further details, buyers and distributors are likely to tread carefully, anticipating potential ripple effects on procurement and pricing across China’s western provinces and beyond.
