Spot polyethylene prices sink amid oversupply, weak demand across Americas

Highly competitive material and customer cautiousness have pulled down US spot polyethylene pricing, further complicating a scenario of persistent weak demand and oversupply across the Americas and resulting in across-the-board drops over the week ended Aug. 21.

"The biggest price drop has been in the linear low-density polyethylene market," a US-based trader said Aug. 21. A second US-based trader said that "today [it] is not a matter of price, is a matter of where you can move" product.

US linear low-density polyethylene reached the lowest levels seen in 2025, with Platts assessing linear low-density polyethylene butene at $849/mt FAS Houston Aug. 21, a level not seen since January 2024.

US spot LLDPE metallocene and hexene also reached their lowest levels of 2025, with Platts last assessing both at $959/mt and $871/mt FAS Houston, respectively, Aug. 20.

Multiple sources indicated that the polyethylene market was weak, compounded by a challenging economic environment both in the US export market and globally.

A third US trader said that "capacity is currently outpacing demand, reshaping trade flows globally."

"Customers are only buying what they need," a fourth US-based source said.

The source added that the additional capacity built was based on expected growth in China and Southeast Asia. The anticipated higher consumption there has not materialized.

The cautiousness extends farther south, an Argentina-based trader said. Customers have stock and are waiting to purchase at more competitive prices than those currently available, adding that if "there is a slight decrease in prices from the US, it's not enough for customers to be willing to buy that material."

Multiple market players also indicated that lower offers in the US spot polyethylene market were not resulting in deals, as clients still had inventories. A source said they were "playing" with the suppliers.

A Colombia-based trader echoed that buyers were requesting "crazy" prices.

"I don't know if anyone is offering them, but we are already reaching a worrying point," the same trader said.

"I believe that demand is decreasing in most of the world," a Brazil-based trader said. "People have maybe three months of inventories to avoid risking customers."

The trader said that accumulating inventory was uncommon in the past, but industry owners and managers now choose to increase their stocks of raw materials and finished products.

The Mexican market also faced weakness and increasingly lower offers, according to a Mexican trader.

"There is a surplus of material everywhere, so the competition for orders is intense," the Mexico-based trader added.

"The purchasing power of people is limited," a Paraguay-based distributor source said. "When prices are high and borrowing money becomes expensive or payment installments are difficult, people stop consuming."

Platts is part of S&P Global Energy.