Petronas Chemicals Up On Stronger Potential 2Q Earnings

KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 (Bernama) -- Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd’s share price rose 1.69 per cent to RM4.80, on stronger potential quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) earnings in 2Q FY2026, mainly driven by the fertiliser and methanol segment.

At 10.28 am, 2.32 billion shares were transacted.

CIMB Securities Sdn Bhd said in a research note that ammonia, methanol, and urea prices rose 54.1 per cent, 56.9 per cent, and 27.9 per cent q-o-q, respectively, owing to West Asia supply disruptions, regional plant outages, and stronger fertiliser demand from India.

“The olefins and derivatives segment should also benefit from higher ethylene, monoethylene glycol, polyethylene, and paraxylene prices. The Kertih Integrated Petrochemical Complex’s turnaround in April 2026 may nonetheless have limited its ability to fully capitalise on the impact of the supply shock.

“Specialty chemicals’ earnings will likely remain mixed, with resilient demand in India and Southeast Asia offset by continued weakness in Europe and China,” it said.

CIMB Securities said it may be more bullish should petrochemical spreads structurally improve following rationalisation of global capacity and/or if the disposal of Pengerang Petrochemical Company materialises, removing an earnings drag. The PPC disposal is the key catalyst.

The upside risks are better-than-expected product spreads and average selling prices, and higher-than-expected utilisation rates. The downside risks are unplanned plant shutdowns and weaker-than-expected end-market demand. 

It is maintaining a "Hold” call on the company with a target price of RM5.45.

-- BERNAMA