Under the Background of the US-Iran War, China's Plastic Machinery Exports Remain Stable

Recently, the escalation of the US-Iran situation has aroused global market concerns, with energy, chemical and other related industries affected to varying degrees. Many people worry that China's plastic machinery exports will be affected by this. However, considering the market layout, industrial advantages and response capabilities of China's plastic machinery exports, this regional conflict has a negligible impact on China's plastic machinery exports. The industry as a whole will maintain a stable development trend and continue to show strong competitiveness in the global market.

I. Diversified Export Markets with Extremely Low Share in Iran and the US

One of the core advantages of China's plastic machinery exports is its highly diversified market layout, which has long been free from dependence on a single country or region, providing a solid foundation for resisting the risks of regional conflicts. According to 2025 industry import and export data, China's plastic machinery exports cover more than 200 countries and regions around the world, presenting a "multi-point blooming" pattern. Among them, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Russia and emerging markets in South America are the core export regions, accounting for more than 60% in total.

From the perspective of specific markets, although Iran was once one of the importers of China's plastic machinery, with China's plastic machinery exports to Iran accounting for nearly 60% of its total imports in 2016, the proportion of Iran in China's total plastic machinery exports has continued to decline with the continuous expansion of China's export market, currently less than 2%. As a secondary market for China's plastic machinery exports, the United States also has a relatively low proportion, mainly focusing on mid-to-low-end general-purpose models, which has a limited pulling effect on the overall export of the industry. The US-Iran War mainly affects trade between the two countries and their surrounding regions, and has almost no direct impact on the core export markets of China's plastic machinery. The diversified layout effectively avoids the market risks brought by regional conflicts.

II. Strong Rigid Industrial Demand and Significant Global Market Gap

Plastic machinery is the basic equipment of the manufacturing industry, widely used in construction, packaging, automobile, electronics, medical and other fields. The demand in these fields is extremely rigid and will not shrink sharply due to the US-Iran War. From a global perspective, with the rapid development of manufacturing industry in emerging markets, the demand for plastic machinery in countries such as Southeast Asia, India and Brazil has continued to rise. In the first three quarters of 2025, China's plastic machinery exports to Vietnam and India increased by 48.31% and 19.92% year-on-year respectively, becoming the core driving force for export growth.

Although the US-Iran War may lead to fluctuations in the prices of some global chemical raw materials, the demand side of plastic machinery has not been directly affected. On the contrary, the continuous development of the global plastic industry has left a significant gap in the plastic machinery market. As the world's largest exporter of plastic machinery, China has maintained the world's top output for 23 consecutive years, with prominent cost-performance advantages, which can effectively meet the rigid demand of the global market. This strong demand support ensures that China's plastic machinery exports will not decline due to regional conflicts.

III. Diversified and Controllable Logistics Channels to Avoid Regional Shipping Risks

The shipping risks caused by the US-Iran War are mainly concentrated in the Persian Gulf - Red Sea - Suez waterway. Although the obstruction of this waterway has led to an increase in some global shipping costs, the logistics channels for China's plastic machinery exports have long achieved diversified layout, which can effectively avoid this risk. At present, China's plastic machinery exports mainly rely on various methods such as sea transportation, China-Europe Railway Express and land transportation, among which the China-Europe Railway Express has become an important alternative channel to avoid Middle East shipping risks.

From January to February 2026, the transportation volume of the eastern corridor of the China-Europe Railway Express increased by 48.4% year-on-year. Routes such as Xi'an to Duisburg have stable timeliness, which can effectively meet the export needs of the European and Central Asian markets. At the same time, the land and sea transportation channels between China and Southeast Asian and South Asian countries are smooth, and China has signed a number of logistics cooperation agreements with major trading partners to ensure the stability of goods transportation. In addition, most Chinese plastic machinery enterprises cooperate with large shipping companies such as COSCO Shipping Holdings, locking in shipping prices through long-term agreements, effectively reducing the impact of rising shipping costs and ensuring the smooth flow of export logistics.

IV. Outstanding Product Competitiveness and Unshakable Substitution Advantage

After years of development, China's plastic machinery has formed a complete product system from low-end to high-end, from general-purpose to special-purpose. Its product quality, technical level and cost-performance ratio are all in a leading position in the world, which is the core confidence to resist various market risks. 2025 data show that the scale of China's plastic machinery exports is about 3 times that of imports, with a significant trade surplus. Exports of the three core categories of injection molding machines, blow molding machines and extruders all achieved positive year-on-year growth, among which the export volume of injection molding machines increased by 22.79% year-on-year, demonstrating strong industrial strength.

Compared with plastic machinery from Europe, the United States, Japan and other countries, Chinese products have obvious advantages in price, and have made continuous technological breakthroughs. About 30% of the products have reached world-class level, which can meet the diverse needs of different markets. During the US-Iran War, some European and American enterprises may reduce their layout in the Middle East and surrounding markets due to concerns about sanctions risks, which instead provides more market opportunities for Chinese plastic machinery enterprises, further consolidating China's leading position in the global plastic machinery market, and its substitution advantage is unshakable.

V. Rich Experience in Enterprise Response and Sufficient Risk Prevention and Control Capabilities

For a long time, Chinese plastic machinery enterprises have accumulated rich experience in responding to various risks such as global trade frictions and regional conflicts, and established a sound risk prevention and control system. In response to the potential risks brought by the US-Iran War, most enterprises have taken proactive response measures in advance, optimizing the export structure, reducing dependence on orders from high-risk regions, and focusing on expanding emerging markets.

At the same time, enterprises have strengthened cooperation with institutions such as China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure), insuring relevant insurance such as war risk and delay risk to reduce the risks of order delivery and payment collection; in terms of settlement methods, they have adopted full prepayment, non-US dollar settlement and other methods to avoid the risks of restricted US dollar settlement and secondary sanctions. In addition, domestic plastic machinery enterprises are accelerating technological innovation, improving product added value, and reducing dependence on a single raw material, further enhancing their risk resistance capabilities and ensuring the stable progress of export business.

Conclusion

In summary, although the US-Iran War, as a regional conflict, has had a certain impact on the global energy and shipping markets, its impact on China's plastic machinery exports is extremely limited. The diversified market layout, rigid global demand, smooth logistics channels, outstanding product competitiveness and sufficient risk prevention and control capabilities together constitute a "safety barrier" for China's plastic machinery exports. In the future, with the continuous upgrading of China's plastic machinery industry and the continuous expansion of emerging markets, the industry's exports will continue to maintain a stable growth trend, occupy a more important position in the global market, and will not change the development trend due to a regional conflict.