Resin To Riches: Weekly Plastic Market Insights

Polymer Global Analysis

Resin To Riches: Weekly Plastic Market Insights

• General Thoughts: Higher oil-linked feedstock costs are lifting polymer prices, but spare capacity is limiting producer leverage and increasing the strategic value of North America’s lower-cost operating base.
• Polyethylene (PE): Early 3Q26 PE demand improved in the US, but Europe remains soft and Asian prices are rising faster than demand, leaving the global market firmer without creating broad, durable tightness.
• Polypropylene (PP): Merchant PP margins are getting some relief where polymer prices outrun propylene, but high global feedstock costs and weak demand still leave little room for a broad spread recovery.
• Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC): US PVC exports are absorbing more production as domestic demand stays selective, while India’s import floor may push more Chinese resin toward other open markets and pressure offshore netbacks.
• Other Sector Developments: North America’s feedstock edge is becoming an operating advantage, not guaranteed margin expansion, as overseas cracker stress raises the hurdle for utilization and capital at higher-cost assets.

Exhibit 1 – Chart of the Day: Higher Oil Linked Feedstock Costs Are Exposing Where Polymer Pricing Power Still Exists.

Source: C-MACC Analysis, August 2026