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.
Trump bans federal use of paper drinking straws
Trump bans federal use of paper drinking straws
Houston, 11 February (Argus) — President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to ban the procurement of paper drinking straws by the US government and to take steps toward enacting a similar ban nationwide. An "irrational" campaign against plastic straws had forced Americans to use "nonfunctional" paper straws that are more expensive and may pose a risk to human health, Trump said in the order signed Monday. Health risks include the leaching of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from paper straws into drinks, the White House said. The order signed on Monday bans the purchase of paper straws for use in federal buildings and requires within 45 days the development of a " National Strategy to End the Use of Paper Straws". Former president Joe Biden had directed the federal government to end the use of single-use plastic in food applications by 2027. The Plastics Industry Association praised the executive order. "Plastic is the best material for nearly everything it is used for, while being sustainable," Plastics Industry Association chief executive Matt Seaholm said. "Straws are just the beginning — 'Back to Plastic' is a movement we should all get behind." Plastic straws are typically made from polypropylene. Environmental group Greenpeace USA accused Trump of signing the order as a distraction from his administration's moves to prevent federal institutions from protecting Americans from microplastics and "dangerous chemicals". By Zach Kluver Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US polystyrene recycling initiative launches
US polystyrene recycling initiative launches
Houston, 28 January (Argus) — The Plastics Industry Association is forming a group to expand US polystyrene recycling as states increasingly ban expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam because of low recycling rates. The group, called the Polystyrene Recycling Alliance, aims to improve consumer access to polystyrene recycling and to increase the number of applications for which recycled polystyrene can be used. The group plans to establish an investment fund to expand polystyrene recycling across the US. EPS food packaging, one of polystyrene's primary end uses, is difficult to collect, bulky and often contaminated with food, which has hampered recycling investment for the material. End uses for recycled polystyrene have also remained limited. As a result, polystyrene recycling has struggled to gain momentum in the US, which has led to state EPS bans . California this month banned EPS foam in food service under the state's extended producer responsibility law after the recycling rate failed to reach 25pc by 2025. AmSty and Agilyx's polystyrene recycling joint venture Regenyx, one of the few polystyrene-exclusive recycling companies, closed in March after five years of operation. The Oregon-based company lost $1.1mn in the first half of 2023 . By Zach Kluver Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Q&A: Clarity on regulations is key: PETCORE's Ciotti
Q&A: Clarity on regulations is key: PETCORE's Ciotti
London, 24 January (Argus) — After a solid but slightly underwhelming second half of 2024, this year brings a range of possibilities for the European rPET market. For the first time, there is an obligation for EU member states to reach a 25pc recycled content threshold for PET beverage bottles placed on their market, which should support demand. But cheap virgin PET prices increase the incentive for non-compliance, and European recyclers have called for more clarity over issues including how targets will be enforced and how imported recyclates and chemically recycled material will be allowed to count towards them, to stimulate investment. Argus spoke to PETCORE Europe president Antonello Ciotti this week to understand his views on these topics and the outlook for 2025. What are your expectations for PET recycling in 2025, and how recyclers can deal with challenges such as rising fixed costs and energy prices, as well as cheap virgin prices, in the current market environment? Unfortunately, my expectations are not high. We face two basic challenges. Firstly, we face a structural issue because collection costs in Europe are far higher than outside Europe — some 10 times higher compared with countries such as Egypt, Morocco and China. European recyclers cannot close this gap simply by higher technical standards and innovation — they need protection to compete on a level playing field. Secondly, we are grappling with a lack of clarity. The EU institutions are not clear on what will happen if players don't add at least 25pc recycled content to PET beverage bottles that they sell into the EU market [in line with the country-by-country targets laid out since 1 January in the EU Single Use Plastic (SUP) directive]. There does not appear to be any penalty for those who do not comply with the rules, so naturally the incentive to comply is not high. As the cost of rPET is higher than vPET, we need to fight any potential greenwashing as hard as we can, to ensure brands that are paying the prices to comply are not at a cost disadvantage and thus losing market share, margin and profitability. How much of an impact do you expect imports to have on the European rPET market in the coming years, taking into account expectations for how the push for stricter certification on imports will develop? The current situation is clear — imported rPET is cheaper than European rPET. Stricter certification will certainly have an impact in the medium term, but it's not here yet. The current situation is that European rPET manufacturers face extra costs compared with imports, which cannot be compensated. Some brands could look to address the recycled content requirements set out by the SUP directive by seeking to buy lots of recyclates from outside Europe. In the future, with proper certification implemented, this could change the landscape significantly. How much is the uncertainty and potential inconsistency in enforcement of the recycled content regulations in the SUP directive likely to affect its impact on rPET demand in 2025? For the time being, uncertainty will affect the directive's impact a great deal. It is not clear what counts as recycled content and if depolymerisation is included. The EU Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety was requesting that recycled content should include only PET from European collections, but so far there is a lack of clarity on whether to interpret the definition of "placed on the market" as the EU market or the global market, which is adding to the confusion.* The SUP directive, passed in 2019, is not clear enough and to confuse matters further, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) passed in 2024 is not aligned with the SUP. The SUP is a directive, so it is for EU member states, and they must transpose it into their own laws by January 2025 and implement it. The PPWR is a regulation, aimed at companies that must reach specific targets by 2030. However, with the current market situation of rPET being more costly than virgin PET, companies are understandably hesitant to increase the recycled content to or above 25pc as the target is a country average. It only really makes sense for the large brands that are driven by customer demand. Consumers are keen to see recycled content in packaging, but of course they do not expect to pay more for their products as a result. There is currently a clear disconnect between the wishes of the consumer and the realities of the industry. Several European PET depolymerisation projects have faced challenges in recent months. How quickly do you expect to see commercial-scale depolymerisation making a meaningful contribution to PET recycling in Europe? I don't see depolymerisation making a meaningful contribution until we get greater clarity over regulation. This is something that we will be taking up urgently with the European Commission, including with the commission speakers at our annual PETCORE Europe conference in Brussels on 4-5 February. Clearly the technology needs to be proven and to be cost-effective. But even if this was the case, companies may have cancelled and postponed projects due to legislative uncertainty. They cannot be expected to move ahead with huge investments if it is not clear whether the definition of what is accountable in recycled content has been clarified. The endless discussion on the mass balance technology is a typical example of what we need to clarify.† PETCORE Europe continues to push the commission to clarify all the cloudy points that are still pending, to allow correct implementation of the SUP directive. This is the thrust of the discussions that will be taking place at our conference. The environment in which we operate is changing and Europe's PET industry has realised that it has lost its former global competitiveness. The challenge, and our role as the association representing the complete PET value chain in Europe, is to work to set in place conditions needed for the industry to regain its position and its competitive advantage by innovation and investments in new technologies. *The most recent EU implementing decision relating to the SUP directive defines post-consumer plastic waste as generated from waste "placed on the market" without further clarification. A draft update in February 2024 expanded on the definition to "generated from plastic products that have been supplied for distribution, consumption or use on the market of a Member State or of a third country in the course of a commercial activity", but this was not adopted at the time. †The as-yet-unadopted February 2024 implementing decision laid down a "fuel-use exempt" methodology for calculating chemically recycled content in respect of the SUP directive targets. This led to an objection from the European Parliament's environment committee, although this was rejected in a vote by the parliament. Discussions are ongoing with a new draft implementing decision due early this year. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
CSX expects continued coal challenges in 2025
CSX expects continued coal challenges in 2025
Cheyenne, 23 January (Argus) — Eastern US railroad CSX is expecting coal market weakness to linger into this year, weighing on the company's overall volumes. A large part of the coal volume decline could come this quarter because of production issues at some mines, CSX executives said today. Later on in 2025, coal-fired power plant retirements may weigh on CSX's domestic coal volumes. The carrier did not give specific volume guidance for 2025. CSX hauled 82.7mn short tons (75mn metric tonnes) of coal in 2024, down by 3pc from 2023. The railroad's domestic coal shipments dropped by 14pc to 38.9mn st and offset a 9pc increase in shipments to export terminals, marking the first time in the company's history that more than half of CSX's coal carloads were headed to export terminals. In the fourth quarter, both CSX's domestic and export coal volumes were lower when compared with a year earlier. CSX loaded 9.6mn st of coal headed to domestic customers last quarter, down from 10.9mn st in the final three months of 2023. The railroad's export coal volumes dipped to 10.5mn st from 10.8mn st. CSX attributed the fourth quarter year-on-year declines to reduced production, including planned and unplanned outages at customer facilities. The company also "navigated the effects" of lower seaborne coal pricing and continued to encounter lower domestic demand, primarily from utility customers, CSX chief commercial officer Kevin Boone said. "More recently, we have seen colder winter weather reducing coal utility stockpiles", which could provide some opportunity for domestic utility coal inventory rebuilding in the short term, Boone said. But upcoming power plant retirements will hit CSX's domestic coal shipments, and production issues will drag on overall coal volumes in the first half of 2025. CSX did not name the mines experiencing production problems. CSX services Core Natural Resources' Leer South metallurgical coal mine in West Virginia, which was recently taken off line as the company works on and recovers from a fire that started on 13 January. CSX also expects lower seaborne coal prices to drag down the company's revenue in the first half of 2025. The railroad's fourth quarter coal revenue fell by 20pc to $499mn and full year 2024 revenue decreased by 10pc to $2.25bn. Average revenue per coal railcar in the fourth quarter decreased by 14pc to $2,788/car. In addition to decreased volumes and seaborne prices, CSX's fourth quarter coal revenue was negatively affected by disruptions from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which hit the US southeast at the end of September, and Hurricane Milton in early October. The storms also affected the company's overall fourth quarter revenue and service metrics. CSX's intermodal trip plan performance — which compares actual movements to the railroad's plans — averaged 84.9pc, compared with 94.7pc a year earlier. The company's carload movements were about 75.5pc of what it had planned, down from 84.7pc in the final three months of 2023. Still, CSX's overall railroad volume last quarter rose by 1pc from a year earlier, to 1.58mn carloads and intermodal units such as chemicals, minerals and intermodal shipments topped fourth quarter 2023 levels. CSX attributed the gains in chemicals shipments to increased volumes of plastics, crude oil, and natural gas liquids. The company's international intermodal volumes were supported by higher port volumes and "growth with key customers", while CSX's domestic intermodal shipments increased primarily because of growth in transcontinental shipments. CSX automotive shipments declined. Total CSX revenue for the quarter decreased by 4pc to $3.54bn because of lower fuel surcharges, and coal revenue outweighed gains in merchandise and intermodal volume growth. For all of 2024, CSX's volume was 2pc higher than in 2023, at 6.28mn carloads and intermodal units, while revenue dipped by 1pc to $14.5bn. CSX cycle times in 2025 are likely to be greater than they were last year, when Helene and Milton and the March collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, temporarily disrupted traffic. By Courtney Schlisserman Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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