Brazil has imposed definitive antidumping duties on polyethylene (PE) imports from the US and Canada amid tighter supply, at $199.04/metric tonne (t) on US-origin resin and $238.49/t on Canadian material, locking in the trade measures for five years at the same rates applied during the six-month provisional phase.
The decision was approved during a meeting of the foreign trade chamber Camex's executive management committee (Gecex), and published in the government's official gazette earlier on Friday.
The definitive ruling closes the door on an earlier proposal that would have raised US-origin duties to as high as $734/t, a level widely viewed as commercially prohibitive. Market participants said those proposed rates had effectively cut off nearly all trade between the two countries during consultation discussions, as such a steep tariff would have wiped out the competitiveness of US resin entirely. The government ultimately abandoned the higher figure, opting instead to lock in the lower provisional rates
Gecex said the tariff levels were maintained "in the public interest", avoiding additional strain on downstream industries, a message reinforced in a separate note from the trade ministry Mdic. The ministry highlighted that duty modulation reflected the supply chain environment observed during the six months of provisional enforcement.
The decision comes as Brazil's PE market faces acute supply tightness, compounded by global logistics disruptions. Earlier this month, a distributor of domestic producer Braskem warned clients that all PE grades were unavailable, with no forecast for replenishment, and several product lines had already hit zero inventory. Market participants at the time anticipated further price increases as Braskem issued back-to-back hikes in March amid rapidly depleted stocks.
These domestic constraints coincided with the expiration of the provisional antidumping duty in February, prompting Brazilian buyers to shift aggressively back to US PE. Reduced availability from the Middle East, as the US-Israel war with Iran disrupted shipping routes and left over 140 container vessels and 470,000 containers stranded or delayed across the Mideast Gulf, further tightened alternatives. Spot freight rates surged, and war risk premiums multiplied, reinforcing the appeal of US supply, which benefited from stable logistics and shorter transit times.
Although US producers sought heavy price increases during the month, their resin remained competitive for Brazilian importers, especially with freight on the Houston–Santos route rising only modestly. Buyers diversified carriers, revisited cfr offers from the US and rebalanced procurement strategies to offset domestic shortages.
The ruling stabilizes the regulatory backdrop. While duties are now fixed for five years ahead of the investigation's legal deadline of 14 May, sourcing patterns are unlikely to shift immediately. Continued scarcity in Brazil, constrained Middle Eastern cargoes and global freight volatility mean US PE will remain a critical supply option, despite the renewed tariff burden.
