Resin To Riches: Weekly Plastic Market Insights

General Thoughts: Underappreciated polymer market dynamics center on accelerating cost-curve compression, rising China-driven trade distortions, and tighter Western markets, collectively redesigning early 2026 competitive outcomes.
Polyethylene (PE): Global PE markets edge toward stabilization as disciplined Western rate cuts, emerging regional price floors, and persistent yet easing Asian oversupply collectively position the system for coordinated firming into 2026.
Polypropylene (PP): Global PP markets tighten unevenly as China’s accelerating self-sufficiency, constrained Western margins, and widening arbitrage imbalances lock spreads into persistently narrow bands through 4Q25 and into 2026.
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC): Global PVC markets appear positioned to form a late-2025 floor as Western rate discipline, shifting Indian trade policy, and easing Asian surpluses prime the system for stronger early-2026 value-chain balances.
Other Sector Developments: Polymer cost curves remain under downward pressure globally, as weakening ethylene, volatile propylene, and tighter oil-to-gas spreads nudge markets toward tighter, margin-defining inflection points.

Exhibit 1 – Chart of the Day: Global polymer prices test multi-year lows as early 2026 rebound prospects diverge.