Resin To Riches: Weekly Plastic Market Insights

General Thoughts: A structural retreat is intensifying across Europe’s plastics sector, as global capital flees high-cost production assets in favor of feedstock agility, policy certainty, and scalable growth in more competitive regions.
Polyethylene (PE): The global PE market remains under heavy pressure as U.S. spot prices fell ~3% last week. Europe mirrored the decline, and Asia held flat near YTD lows amid mounting oversupply and weak demand.
Polypropylene (PP): Global PP markets are diverging fast as US prices stabilize, Europe and Asia weaken, and global low-cost, integrated producers emerge best positioned to weather likely price pressure in 2H25.
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC): Margin pressure and market fragmentation define the global PVC landscape, with a housing recovery critical for improvement. Without better demand, production cuts likely loom in the near term.
Other Sector Developments: Europe and Asia spot ethylene and propylene prices declined and trended opposite to US prices last week; USGC spot propane prices have risen ~10% since the middle of last week.

Exhibit 1 – Chart of the Day: European integrated PE production costs are lower YTD, but it’s still a challenging setting.