Resin To Riches: Weekly Plastic Market Insights

Polymer Global Analysis

Resin To Riches: Weekly Plastic Market Insights

• General Thoughts: Global polymers are shifting from broad price erosion to contested floors as firmer crude and China spot support challenge consensus, while new capacity and buyer choice limit any clean upside call.
• Polyethylene (PE): Global PE pricing has stopped falling in a straight line as China spot values rebound and oil-linked costs firm, while Southeast Asia tests buyer leverage, as competing cargoes challenge bids and limit seller traction.
• Polypropylene (PP): Global PP pressure is shifting from monomer pass-through to buyer leverage, with firmer costs supporting US July pricing while Asian cargoes lose pricing power as Europe arbitrage narrows further.
• Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC): Global PVC is moving toward a negotiated floor as crude and feedstocks firm, while ample supply lets buyers protect cash and avoid inventory exposure until construction order books improve sustainably.
• Other Sector Developments: The market has moved from supply-risk concerns to surplus confidence faster than delivered-feedstock economics justify, preserving North American margin leverage if oil-linked costs remain unsettled.

Exhibit 1 – Chart of the Day: Crude Likely Must Return Near 2H25 Levels to Sustain Similar Polymer Prices.

Source: Bloomberg, C-MACC Analysis, July 2026