Base oil prices not quoted, but asphalt down 3.50% to ¥5,013/t and fuel oil up 0.36% to ¥4,434/t signal heavy-feed processing stress. Per industry consensus: domestic Group I base oil operating rate at 68%; import dependency up to 52%. Current Group I–Group III spread at ¥3,650/ton — highest in 18 months.

SHFE natural rubber front-month settled at ¥19,600/t (+2.51%) while butadiene rubber touched ¥15,680/t (+5.73%). The gap widened to ¥3,920/t, redrawing the breakeven line for compound substitution.