Resin Pricing

The resin markets and industry breathed a collective sigh of relief as Tropical Storm Barry came and went without causing any significant disruptions. It did, however, leave a trail of heightened trading activity and, to the delight of resin...

Buying activity really heated up on Friday, as slow-moving Tropical Storm Barry gained strength over the warm Gulf waters, threatening key petrochemical infrastructures that triggered some precautionary facility closures.

The spot polypropylene (PP) market does not feel extremely tight and most materials can be found, especially at the right price. However, upstream PP inventories are actually the lowest since we began keeping records almost 15 years ago, reports...

The spot PE market ended June and the first half of the year somewhat sluggish, a contrast with the first five months. Spot PP trading managed to achieve average results.

Polyethylene and polypropylene prices both remained pressured and ceded $0.005 to 0.01/lb last week.

Processors that took a $0.03/lb polyethylene contract increase in April and $0.045/lb polypropylene increase in May would now like to see those increases come right back off.

Quickly shifting market dynamics, including sharply lower energy and feedstock costs, falling international prices and trade uncertainty, have caused a slight decline in resin prices.

Spot polyethylene and polypropylene prices managed to hold steady last week, but with weak undertones, as commodity resin market sentiment moves into more cautious territory.

Contract increases are intact for both polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), and ample resin supplies are available; current spot resin offers present very good value compared to contracts.

Downstream polyethylene (PE) inventories remain below average, reports the PlasticsExchange (Chicago), leading some processors to anticipate a rise in resin supply and subsequent price decrease. Others, however, view the current price structure as...