SunSirs reports that its propylene oxide (PO) benchmark reached 10,633 RMB/ton on 8 May 2026, up 3.57% from early May and more than 20% since the start of the year. Plant maintenance, the phase-out of older chlorohydrin capacity and outages in the US and Europe tightened supply, while high propylene feedstock costs provided firm cost support. Polyether polyol demand for flexible foam was described as stable.
Propylene oxide is the feedstock from which polyether polyols are made, and polyether polyols are the backbone of most flexible foams used in mattresses, furniture and automotive seating, as well as many rigid and CASE systems. SunSirs notes that polyether polyols account for around 70% of PO demand, so a sustained move in PO works its way directly into polyol pricing and, from there, into finished system costs.
The cost support is structural rather than speculative. Propylene itself sat near 8,300 RMB/ton in early May, up roughly 15% year-on-year, and propylene typically represents 65 to 85% of PO production cost. On the supply side, scheduled maintenance, the retirement of older chlorohydrin-route capacity and unplanned outages in the US and Europe all trimmed availability at the same time, a classic squeeze in which firm feedstock costs meet thinner spot supply.
For polyurethane buyers the signal is that the cost pressure of recent quarters is not confined to isocyanates. With both the isocyanate and the polyol side of the formulation under upward pressure, total system economics tighten from both directions, reinforcing the case for forward planning on flexible-foam polyols rather than relying on spot purchasing.