FACTBOX: Some global polymer trading restarts after initial war shock

Polymer market activity restarted March 3 among some Middle East and Indonesian producers and customers in India, Turkey and Africa, after trading effectively paused March 2, with most offers being withdrawn or suspended.

Further production disruption began to surface in the market, following upstream Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery partial outage confirmed March 2. Indonesia's Chandra Asri has reduced its PP production rate due to naphtha shortage, and QatarEnergy said March 3 it would halt production of some downstream products.

Trades

• Some attempts to restart market activity were seen March 3 in India, Africa and Turkey. Three-digit price increases were heard across most destination markets, except for North Africa, which saw an increase in the mid-double digits. Other offers, including those from China and from the US, were heard to have increased, although some suppliers still opted to refrain from participating in the market. In addition, additional surcharges related to freight were being discussed in these markets.
• Polyvinyl chloride offers on a CFR and CIF basis into Europe and Turkey were suspended from Asia, due to increased freight rates and limited availability of freight. Customers were also contacted regarding the risk of cancellation of previously confirmed orders.
• Polypropylene and polyethylene offers on a CFR basis into Turkey from the Middle East were heard to have increased by $170/mt with a $120/mt increase from freight and $50/mt for material, according to one trader.
• In the European vinyl acetate monomer market, supply tightened in reaction to the ongoing war in the Middle East, which has caused shipping delays around the Strait of Hormuz. "We have vessels that were supposed to be loaded, all of those are now put on hold, those that have been loaded as well," a producer said.

Production outages

• Indonesia's Chandra Asri has reduced operating rates at its 590,000 mt/year polypropylene unit in Cilegon with immediate effect due to naphtha shortage on the back of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East on March 3, according to a company source.
• QatarEnergy has said it will halt the production of some downstream products, including urea, polymers, methanol and aluminum, and other products in response to military attacks on its facilities in two of its industrial cities, the company said March 3.

Prices

• The war paralyzed polymer transactions from Asia and Middle East to the Americas on March 2, with offers of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyvinyl chloride heard to be suspended, while transactions between the US and Latin America have also cooled amid "wait and see" sentiment.
• Asian butadiene market rose $45/mt day over day March 3, driven by tight supply concerns from the Middle East as well as Asian regions, market sources said. China's butadiene imports from the Middle East totaled 93,911 mt in 2025, accounting for around 17% of its total import volume of 541,823 mt, according to the latest data from China's Customs.
• On March 2, the European ethylene contract price rose Eur50/mt off the back of a sharp hike in the feedstock naphtha price.
• MTBE offers were heard higher, effectively closing the arbitrage from Asia to Europe amid disruptions to freight and rising logistics costs. At the same time, concerns over LPG supply from the Middle East were said to have prompted some Asian producers to reduce operating rates in order to avoid exposure to elevated spot LPG prices.