Resin To Riches: Weekly Plastic Market Insights

General Thoughts: Amid weak demand and falling prices, a trend not getting adequate attention is rising supply discipline outside of China, suggesting spot polymer price support, helped partly by crude holding in the mid-60s.
Polyethylene (PE): Global PE markets show fragile gains as US margins improve on lower feedstocks, and while we see signs of soft demand, rising supply, and weak exports, Europe and Asia Ex-China appear most at risk.
Polypropylene (PP): Global PP markets reflect convergence as muted demand, synchronized feedstock trends, and narrowing arbitrage compress spreads. Elevated US spot PGP prices reflect risk for US PP markets in 2025.
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC): Global PVC markets show some signs of stabilization. US spot prices are among the lowest globally, and many high-cost regions face pressure to cut production amid unsustainably low margins.
Other Sector Developments: US spot ethylene markets face declines amid plant restarts. In contrast, US spot polymer-grade propylene (PGP) shows more support. Both are lower WoW in Europe, mostly unchanged in Asia.

Exhibit 1 – Chart of the Day: US spot HDPE prices sit at the low-end of the 10-year range relative to Asia spot HDPE.