Granular Magnesium Chloride Market Intelligence Report (May 27, 2026)

I. Price Trends
- Recent Quotations: According to publicly available data, manufacturer quotations for magnesium chloride (including granular grade) remained stable at RMB 500 per metric ton from May 24–26, 2026—marking a significant recovery from the anomalous low of RMB 180 per metric ton observed on April 7, and signaling a return to a rational price range.
- Factors Driving Price Volatility:
- Cost Support: Upstream magnesium prices have fluctuated recently (e.g., benchmark magnesium price stood at RMB 16,850 per metric ton on May 26, up RMB 100 from the beginning of May), providing cost support for magnesium chloride.
- Supply-Demand Adjustment: Export volume surged 11.3% year-on-year in April (customs data), driven by robust infrastructure demand across Southeast Asia, contributing to price stabilization.
- Policy Impact: The 2025 \"Special Action Plan for Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction in the Inorganic Salts Industry\" mandates raising domestic supply coverage for high-end magnesium chloride applications to 68.5%, prompting enterprises to optimize product portfolios—indirectly stabilizing prices.

II. Supply-Demand Landscape
- Supply Side:
- Production Concentration: China is the world’s largest producer; leading enterprises—including Shandong Haihua and Qinghai Salt Lake—collectively hold 61.4% of market share. Capacity expansion is increasingly focused on high-purity (≥99.95%), electronic-grade, and pharmaceutical-grade products.
- Regional Distribution: Jiangsu, Shandong, and Qinghai are the primary production bases. Qinghai Salt Lake leverages brine resources from the Qarhan Salt Lake to achieve a comprehensive magnesium chloride recovery rate of 91.6%, conferring substantial cost advantages.
- Demand Side:
- Domestic Demand: Dominated by chemical, metallurgical, and construction sectors; demand for magnesium-based cementitious materials (e.g., fire-resistant panels) rose 6.9% year-on-year, boosting consumption of granular magnesium chloride.
- Export Market: Total exports reached 487,000 metric tons in 2025—a 11.3% increase year-on-year—primarily destined for Southeast Asian infrastructure projects and Middle Eastern oilfield fracturing operations. With deeper RCEP tariff reductions in 2026, export revenue is projected to reach RMB 1.24 billion, contributing 1.6 percentage points to overall market growth.

III. Industry Developments
- Policy Drivers:
- In 2025, central government allocated RMB 1.43 billion in special subsidies to support R&D in high-purity purification, nanoscale modification, and composite flame-retardant formulations of magnesium chloride—accelerating technological upgrading.
- Provincial governments in Shandong, Qinghai, and Jiangsu introduced complementary policies, offering up to 30% pre-tax super-deduction for corporate R&D expenditures—expediting expansion of high-end capacity.
- Corporate Initiatives:
- Shandong Haihua: Achieved annual high-purity magnesium chloride capacity of 120,000 metric tons in 2025 using an integrated brine purification–membrane separation process, reducing unit energy consumption by 27.4%.
- Qinghai Salt Lake: Jointly established a laboratory with the Chinese Academy of Sciences; commissioned a pilot line for magnesium-based battery materials; aims to raise value-added ratio of magnesium chloride derivatives to 4.3× raw-material value by 2026.
- Yingkou Lingmu: Focused on pharmaceutical-grade products; secured U.S. FDA Drug Master File (DMF) registration in 2025; order backlog for 2026 covers 89% of full-year production capacity.

IV. Analytical Assessment
- Short-Term Outlook:
- Price Stability: Convergence of cost support and export demand suggests granular magnesium chloride prices will remain anchored near RMB 500 per metric ton; recurrence of anomalous lows (e.g., RMB 180/ton on April 7) is highly unlikely.
- Supply-Demand Balance: Revitalized domestic infrastructure investment and export growth offset each other, keeping industry inventory at healthy levels—no material overcapacity risk is evident.
- Long-Term Outlook:
- Premiumization Trend: Under policy guidance, the share of electronic-grade and pharmaceutical-grade capacity is expected to rise from 15.3% in 2025 to 18% in 2026, pushing industry gross margin upward from 18.7%.
- Rising Concentration: The CR3 (Shandong Haihua, Qinghai Salt Lake, Yingkou Lingmu) has already reached 61.4%; new entrants face dual barriers—resource control (brine access) and technical expertise (continuous high-purity purification)—leading to a consolidating and increasingly stable industrial structure.

V. Forecast (June–December 2026)
- Price Range: Mainstream quotations for granular magnesium chloride are projected to trade within RMB 480–520 per metric ton; short-term fluctuations may occur due to extreme weather events or environmental regulation–driven production curbs.
- Demand Structure:
- Domestic: Demand from magnesium-based cementitious materials and de-icing agents is expected to rise to 45% of total domestic consumption; agricultural applications (e.g., soil conditioners) will remain stable at ~20%.
- Export: Infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia (e.g., extension lines of the Jakarta–Bandung High-Speed Railway in Indonesia) will account for 30% of incremental export demand; oilfield fracturing operations in the Middle East will represent ~25%.
- Risk Alerts:
- Upstream Magnesium Price Volatility: A single-month magnesium price increase exceeding 5% could transmit to the magnesium chloride cost base, triggering cascading price adjustments.
- Trade Policy Uncertainty: Close monitoring is required for potential RCEP member-state tariff revisions and import quota adjustments in the Middle East to prevent export disruptions.