Market Advisory Service - Asia, Middle East & India Plastics & Polymers

Duration: Short-term – 2-year price forecast and market outlook

2025 proved to be a difficult year for producers, marking the fourth consecutive year in which commodity margins remained in negative territory. Conditions are expected to worsen in 2026 as substantial new capacity continues to enter the market, placing additional downward pressure on already depressed prices. Demand growth is unlikely to recover meaningfully given persistent macroeconomic headwinds, with polyolefins, widely used in consumer products, particularly vulnerable. Any slowdown in consumer spending is expected to translate directly into weaker demand for these materials.

Industry rationalization is anticipated to accelerate, with high-cost assets, especially those lacking integration or advantaged feedstock positions, facing heightened risk of closure. Producers are expected to refine product strategies, pursue greater operational efficiency, and explore lower-cost feedstock alternatives to alleviate sustained margin pressure. However, attracting new capital investment in the current environment will remain a substantial challenge, as investors prioritize resilience, integration, and demonstrated cost competitiveness within the global polyolefins value chain

Comprehensive monthly market price, supply, demand, and trade data and analysis for:

• Polyethylene (PE)
• Polypropylene (PP)
• Polystyrene (PS)
• Expandable Polystyrene (EPS)
• Polyethylene Terephthalate, Bottle Resin (PET)
• Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)

Duration: Short-term – 2-year price forecast and market outlook

“In a global plastics market increasingly defined by a widening gap between new capacity additions and slowing demand, cost competitiveness and strategic market segmentation have become critical to producer survival. Asian producers that have established supply chains to source low-cost U.S. ethane continue to maintain profitability, even as naphtha-based producers struggle with sustained negative margins. Meanwhile, producers reliant on propane, coal, methanol, and other alternative feedstocks are also finding it difficult to break even amid intensifying competition and elevated feedstock costs.

In this environment, companies that have moved up the value chain by developing higher-value Advanced Polymers have demonstrated greater resilience and maintained profitability. However, even these segments are now facing pressure as Mainland Chinese producers rapidly expand into specialty polymer chains, challenging the long-term viability of established players.

Within such a dynamic and rapidly evolving plastics landscape, relying solely on historical trends is no longer sufficient. Producers must strategically evaluate market shifts, assess competitive threats, and develop future-focused business plans to survive and thrive.

Chemical Market Analytics offers deep expertise across the entire plastics value chain, from oil and gas feedstocks to downstream converters and end-use markets, making it the trusted partner for data, analysis, and strategic insight needed to navigate this complex industry with confidence.

Duration: Short-term – 2-year price forecast and market outlook