Polymers
Overview
Global polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) supply and demand dynamics are in transition. Supply is increasing much faster than demand and international trade is shifting due to political and economic events. About 40% of the US polyethylene production is exported, mainly to Asian markets, whereas only about 10% of the polypropylene production is exported, mainly to LATAM markets.
Ethylene prices in Asia and Europe are tied to naphtha whereas ethylene prices in the US are impacted by natural gas and ethane supply. Asia is also self-sufficient on PP whereas they must import 25% of their PE demand.
The impacts of other ethylene and propylene derivatives such as PVC or propylene oxide also require assessment.
Our polymer experts will help you determine what trends to track and how to stay competitive in today’s ever-changing global markets.
Latest polymers news
Browse the latest market moving news on the global polymers industry.
US to impose higher tariffs on PET imports
US to impose higher tariffs on PET imports
Houston, 9 September (Argus) — US president Donald Trump has revised US tariff policies to include both virgin polyethylene terephthalate (vPET) and recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) in an executive order, effective on Monday. PET resins imported under the 3907.61.00 or 3907.69.00 HTSUS codes will now be subject to standard tariff rates, up to 50pc based on country of origin. PET resins were originally exempt from tariffs, allowing for countries to continue shipping more competitively priced PET to the US with no extra hurdles. Historically, PET produced in the US had higher production costs compared with PET produced in Asia, which kept an open arbitrage into the US market. US PET buyers remained incentivized to import cheaper PET from Asia. Since 2021, PET imports to the US have averaged nearly 1.25mn metric tonnes (t)/yr, according to Global Trade Tracker data. The low PET production rates were felt up the product chain in US paraxylene (PX), which thinned out chemical demand and turned many toluene and mixed xylene (MX) sellers to sell more often into the gasoline blending pool. Recyclers and reclaimers active in the US rPET market are hopeful that the addition of PET to the list of products subject to reciprocal tariffs from the US will help to stop the slide in prices in the rPET market. US west coast rPET bale grade A prices have fallen by 60pc from a high of 32.5¢/lb in mid-May to 13¢/lb last week, falling on weak demand and ample availability. West coast rPET flake prices have also fallen over the period, but not by the same magnitude, dropping by 15pc from 62¢/lb in May to 52.5¢/lb in September. West coast rPET pellet prices have fallen by 6.2pc from 81¢/lb in May to 76¢/lb in September. Prices have fallen, in part, as cheap imported PET flakes and pellets have continued to limit demand for domestic material. Imported virgin PET pellets were heard available around the 50¢/lb level in California, with large-volume deals heard in the 40s¢/lb level this month. Imported rPET flake was heard in the low 50s¢/lb level, similar to domestic rPET flake. However, now that vPET and rPET imports into the US will carry duties of as much as 50pc, it is likely that the imported resin and flakes will be less competitive with domestically production, sources said. Upstream, increased run rates for MX-PX units can be expected, another source said, which would boost demand for toluene and MX from chemical producers. Selective toluene disproportionation unit operators could raise rates should byproduct benzene prices also rise, which would turn up US PX output. "It's the only bit of good news that I've heard in recent months," said one US recycler. "The domestic industry certainly needs more demand … hopefully this will have a positive impact." Market participants said there was likely a limit to how immediately the change could affect pricing in the market, noting that those who import resin have long-term supply commitments because of the longer shipping times. "It's not like turning off a light switch," said a second US recycler, speaking of switching from imports to domestic resin. In the long run, the tariffs should make domestic resin more competitive, but it won't fully solve the problem of weak demand, sources said. By Jake Caldwell and Michelle Klump Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Ester, Loop to build Indian chemical recycling facility
Ester, Loop to build Indian chemical recycling facility
Singapore, 5 September (Argus) — Ester Loop Infinite Technologies (ELITe) — a joint venture between Indian polyester film and specialty polymer manufacturer Ester Industries and Canadian chemicals recycler Loop Industries — will develop India's first Infinite Loop™ chemical recycling facility, it said on 3 September. The joint venture has acquired land in Gujarat to set up the Greenfield Chemical Recycling Plant, to be developed at a project cost of around Rs16bn ($181mn). It will use Loop's proprietary chemical recycling technology to convert polyester textile waste into virgin-quality PET resin. The facility will begin with a capacity of 70,000 t/yr, with scope to expand by an additional 100,000 t/yr. The timeline for the construction and start-up was not disclosed. The project site is located near Surat, India's synthetic textile hub, within the Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR). The location provides direct access to abundant textile waste, a skilled petrochemical workforce, and a deep-water port to support efficient resin exports. The Infinite Loop™ India facility is designed to run on about 80pc renewable electricity and biofuels and is expected to cut carbon emissions by up to 80pc compared with conventional petroleum-based PET production. The land acquisition marks a major milestone toward building a circular economy for polyester in India, positioning the country as a future hub for sustainable textile-to-textile recycling, Ester said. By Sihan Long Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Japan's packaging industry turns to bio-polypropylene
Japan's packaging industry turns to bio-polypropylene
Singapore, 3 September (Argus) — Japan's plastic packaging market has been consuming more bio-polypropylene (bio-PP), as part of the northeast Asian country's attempts to meet its sustainability goals. Chemicals producer LyondellBasell (LYB) has announced the partial incorporation of its bio-based PP in Japanese cosmetic company Shiseido's packaging, in collaboration with manufacturer Futamura Chemical and trading firm Iwatani, according to a press release on 1 September. LYB began commercial production of bio-PP and bio-polyethylene (PE) in 2021, produced with measurable and certified C14 renewable content from renewable feedstock. The renewable feedstock bio-naphtha is supplied by Finnish refiner Neste and is derived from bio-based waste and residues, such as used cooking oils, according to LYB. More bio-PP has been integrated into plastic packaging in recent years, particularly in Japan, likely motivated by the country's 2030 and 2050 environmental goals. Japan aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 46pc by 2030 and reach net zero emissions by 2050, according to a government release. As part of this, Japan has formulated a basic plan to introduce approximately 2mn t/yr of bio-PP plastic products by 2030, Japanese trading firm Itochu said. Itochu, owner of second-largest domestic convenience store chain FamilyMart, has been using bio-PP food containers since June 2021. The firm procures bio-PP from Abu Dhabi-based petrochemicals producer Borouge and Austrian-based plastics producer Borealis. But details regarding volumes and prices are unclear. Japanese petrochemical firm Mitsui Chemicals has also co-operated with its subsidiary Prime Polymer and Neste on the use of bio-based raw materials to produce packaging material for Japanese CO-OP seaweed snacks in 2023. CO-OP is a brand of the Japanese Consumers Co-operative Union (JCCU). In other parts of northeast Asia, Chinese state-controlled refiner Sinopec's bio-PP has also recently entered the cosmetics packaging market. Its first bulk order concluded last month, according to a press release on 13 August. To count as a bio-based and circular product, firms are required to obtain the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) Plus, an independent third-party certification which confirms the use of renewable materials and its traceability throughout the supply chain, from the raw materials to the finished product. By Simone Tam Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Q&A: Chemical recycling heading in right direction: CRE
Q&A: Chemical recycling heading in right direction: CRE
London, 2 September (Argus) — Chemical recycling in Europe is at a critical juncture, with developments in regulation and industry fundamentals. Argus spoke with Valentijn de Neve, president of the Chemical Recycling Europe (CRE) association, whose members include chemical recycling technology developers, ahead of its upcoming forum in Brussels, about the association's view on these topics. What is the mood of CRE members regarding the development of plastic-derived pyrolysis oil (PPO) capacity in Europe, which has experienced delays in recent years? We are all aligned on the fact that too much plastic is incinerated or landfilled — this needs to change and we need to make that change. I personally believe that there are multiple reasons and not just one, for delays, especially in relation to new technologies and complex projects. And in all transparency, if I look at the overall mood, it is one of conviction in driving further regulatory clarity and empowering the industry to bring more recycling capacity to the market. I would love the process to go faster, but its heading in the right direction. And the next three years are crucial. One of the unique things that the member meetings of CRE is that we all applaud the other competitors if they're successful with startup and ramping up, because we all see that is key for the industry. And this is an important year where a number of flagship projects will start. The CRE Forum is an excellent moment to get together, for the industry to reflect what we have all submitted to the recent EU mass balance consultation, to hear about recent feedstock announcements and to see what we can still achieve for the rest of the year. What can drive higher demand for chemically-recycled polymers, and are the current prices in the market for PPO and circular naphtha sufficient to drive further investment in the industry? One of the complexities is that recycled content requirements for contact-sensitive plastic packaging in the EU will go from zero to 10pc in one go in 2030. If there would have been a more staggered increase of recycled content requirements ahead of 2030 it would have been much easier to build the capacity to make the value chain work. We do see that in some countries EPR schemes provide an incentive for those that bring packaging on the market that has recycled content. We need a couple of creative solutions ahead of the 2030 deadline that supports the full value chain to start adopting and working with higher percentage of recycled content and I actually think that this EPR eco-modulation, which will be discussed at the CRE forum, is an excellent example which can sustain much higher premiums [for circular feedstocks and polyolefins] than Argus currently sees in the market*. Does CRE support EU draft mass balance rules, recently put out to public consultation, that would allow steam cracker operators processing PPO to allocate recycled credits to their highest value products on a fuel-use exempt basis, but force credits from PPO to be allocated proportionally to different outputs at prior processing steps? Yes. As CRE, we fully support this "proportional allocation within fuel-exempt" mass balance, but believe that for the industry it's key that the rules are very clear and can't be interpreted in different ways. So we advocate adding some more clarity on which of the sub-articles [on mass balance] apply to which processing step, and tightening of some of the definitions. I believe it's fair that there's a proportional allocation to measure how much of the material you put in becomes a high-value chemical. We see proportional allocation as fundamental to have credible claims on recycled content and as favouring technology development and innovation to improve yields to improve oil quality. This approach would appear to effectively rule out co-processing PPO in a standard refinery to produce circular naphtha, which is a drop-in replacement feedstock for polymer production. If that's the case, will enough circular polymer be available to meet the 2030 recycled content requirements? It's definitely possible to partly co-process PPO with fossil products in refineries [under this mass balance approach]. But, realistically, where there is proportional allocation at the pre-treatment step, any process where most material will not end up in high value chemicals [such as co-processing PPO in a standard refinery] will result in a larger yield loss. There may still be opportunities to use hydrotreater solutions at existing refineries where you can come closer to having a dedicated hydrotreater for PPO upgrading. Some smaller refineries have plans to convert some of their hydrotreaters, which is an excellent step. And we also see local solutions being developed for on-purpose upgrading. It's clear that several chemical players are contemplating this as well as a number of traders. And, from what we see, the economies of scale are there, so I do believe that the upgrading capacity investment will come. On PPO production, we also see increasingly that projects become financeable by banks and more interest from capital markets, with greater maturity of technology and value chains. So I think that in the next 12 months there will be more announcements across the sector of projects who have secured third party financing. As and when more PPO projects start up, is there still urgent need for investment in the feedstock supply chain? Investment is needed in sorting plastic waste feedstock further and preparing it. But I see growing involvement of waste management companies such as Green Dot, Tomra Feedstock and Source One as positive for the market. In the past a lot of chemical recycling companies were looking at sorting waste themselves. But I think what we now see is that sorting and preparing waste is a different capability than running a chemical recycling plant. The timeline for building a sorting plant is often slightly faster than the pyrolysis installation, so with the plans that multiple players have announced I don't see a limit on the feedstock. I think they can gradually build up at the same time. Multi-colour — slightly contaminated — flexibles will be the key feedstock for a lot of players in the market, because for rigid waste there's often also mechanical recycling. These films could be post-commercial or from residential collection, and this might depend on how these are treated by the EPR schemes and governments in different countries. In the end, the chemical recycling installation does not look at whether waste is commercial or household, it just looks at the polyolefin content. What might hold investment in the whole supply chain back? What we see holding investments back is, firstly, clarity on mass balance which I believe we're close to. But I think clarity on two key points in PPWR will really help to get the capacity online prior to 2030. In PPWR there's a clause saying that in 2028 there will be a revision whether there's enough capacity build up for the 2030 targets, and that's very difficult to ask from the industry to invest significantly when we all know that there is a revision in the plan to the PPWR. And we need clarity on how the "mirror clause"** will be enforced and what are the details, which will really show how much of a level playing field there will be for producers in Europe versus those abroad. As long as those loom over the market and there's not full clarity it's hard for a lot of investment decisions to progress, and I would argue that having clarity on them is as much needed as the clarity on mass balance. A decision on both is planned by the end of 2026. * Argus' spot price assessment for refinery grade plastic-derived pyrolysis oil has averaged €1,208/t fca Europe so far in 2025 **The "mirror clause" in PPWR states that recyclates from outside the EU will only be eligible to count towards recycled content targets if coming from a facility following emissions and environmental performance standards that are equal to those that would apply to an analogous EU recycler. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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