As per China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association (CPCIA), total profit of China's petrochemical industry for 2012 is expected to decrease 6% year-on-year (YoY) to approximately CNY 750 billion, as reported by ChinaScope.

In the first ten months of 2012, total profit of the petrochemical industry was CNY 620 billion, down 8.2% YoY, while the profit of industrial enterprises above designated size was up 0.5% YoY. Total profit of the chemical industry decreased 12.3% YoY and that of the oil and gas exploitation industry dropped by 3.1% YoY, the first fall since 2010.

China's two oil giants in the refining industry suffered greater losses in the first three quarters of 2012. Financial reports show that the refining business of PetroChina suffered a loss of CNY 30 billion during the period while China Petroleum and Chemical lost CNY 16.4 billion.