© 2026 Resintel. All rights reserved. Supply/Demand data provided by and copyrighted by the American Chemistry Council.
Highlights
Better trading activity today
Export PE buyers accepting higher prices
COPP boosted by PGP
PGP again pushes new cycle highs, up to $.335/lb
Resin Markets
Spot resin markets showed a better performance today but February really has been a bit spotty in terms of consistency and total volumes are lighter than the 2025 average for our trading desk. Still though, higher prices are finding homes and buyers are accepting them as they’ve gone through denial at first to acceptance the second and third time around.
This is particularly clear in the export market, the back half of 2025 brought lower prices and that was no secret but as the market has turned, buyers from overseas have still tried to bid down lots but have not found success, later coming back to purchase the material. Producers seem content in holding resin that doesn't match their expected prices. We feel that certain regions can afford these increases, particularly Europe. Certainly when comparing supply to other regions the best price wins but if there isn’t another option it's more important to have material and US resin seems right now like it was a bit oversold price wise in Q4 of 2025, helping this rally. Also to note, resin is finding friendly home right here in the US and if that's the case, the export market will lose out on those incremental deals.
PGP marches on, pushing higher, hitting $.335/lb today and COPP continues to land with a steady stream of requests and purchases. Much like PE, the higher prices are being accepted but unlike PE there is a tailwind in monomer prices to fuel the higher levels. However we're finding PGP moving up faster than spot PP, below is a look at how margins are moving back toward a more normal level.
With where PGP sits today we could be looking at a $.03/lb+ increase in PGP contracts for February. So far in Feb, closing prices have averaged a little over $.32/lb, while January averaged $.295/lb. January contracts were up $.02/lb to $.325/lb, this would put them at $.0355/lb +.
Monomer Market
PGP continues to press ahead, again making cycle highs, trading many times at $.335/lb for February and March, up another half cent. Second quarter was done at $.3375/lb and 4th quarter at $.35/lb on heavy volume today. It would not surprise me to hear of a fresh production issue with this buying activity. Ethylene was also very active with March being completed at $.1875/lb and 2Q at $.195/lb. February closed the day at $.18625/lb, down $.0075/lb.
US Economic Data
Nothing too serious to discuss today but the small business optimism index, NFIB, was released today and showed pretty much steady info with the reading at 99.3, slightly down from 99.5 in December and an expectation of 99.5. Some interesting nuggets in the report, 60% of small businesses have laid out capital in the past 6 months. 16% of owners cited labor quality as their biggest concern. 32% of small business owners expect to raise prices in the next 4 months while 26% raised prices in January with an average increase of 13%. It is very important to keep an eye on inflation here to see what the Fed may do with rates.
Retail sales reported no gain in December, the expectations were an increase of .4%. When you strip out automobiles there is still no gain. Year over year though saw an increase of 2.4%.
Import and export prices both rose in December. Imports prices increased month over month by .1% but when you look at year over year there has been no change. Export prices however have increased .3% month over month and 3.1% year over year. This isn’t resin specific, just overall prices.
Global Trade
The U.S. and Bangladesh finalized a new reciprocal trade agreement, tightening economic ties with a focus on market access, labor standards, and supply-chain cooperation. While not a game-changer on volume, it’s a clear signal Washington is staying active in Asia trade policy as it looks to diversify sourcing away from China a bit. The tariff rate will be reduced to 19% for goods from Bangladesh. It's very interesting to see us attempt to move away from China a bit while other nations are diversifying away from the US to China.
If you are new to Resintel and would like this type of content delivered to your inbox everyday, subscribe and join the growing community of savvy market participants. If you'd learn more about the system and would like to schedule a demo please reach out to Pamela Gerrans at sales@resintel.com.
Thanks for reading, see you tomorrow.
-Dominick Russo, CFA
Copyright © 2026. Resintel. All rights reserved.