Overview
Prices decreases halt as 2025 comes to a close, but feedstock may come under pressure again in January.
With the exception of Butadiene, monomer prices either rolled over from November into December, or in the case of Benzene and Styrene recorded modest increases.
The outlook for January contract monomer pricing is uncertain, with some expectations of a modest fall in C2 Ethylene and C3 Propylene contract pricing due to a combination of weak crude oil prices and low seasonal demand. In reality, it is probably too early to comment, and prices are unlikely to be settled until early January due to the New Year holidays with many decision makers unlikely to be back until January 5th.
In terms of polymer pricing, producers of Styrene based polymers have taken the initiative to announce price increases, although there will be resistance from converters to discuss this until the New Year. In the case of polyolefins and in particular PE, the low-price US origin bargains have disappeared from the market, and the expectation is for prices to rollover into December and though into January. Due to weak demand, the situation for Engineering Polymers, continues to be challenging with downward pressure on most prices as suppliers chase available volumes.
For standard polymers there is a strong sentiment of the market being at the bottom, and this may cause buying activity to increase as polymer converters take a defensive approach to potential price inflation by increasing inventories. Whilst this may become a self-fulfilling destiny, supply still remains plentiful and on this basis any gains may readily be capped by market fundamentals.
Most players will be looking forward to the respite of the seasonal holidays, before starting a new year which will likely present similar economic challenges.
Monomer Price Movement
Feedstock
Price per Tonne
Change (contract)
C2 (Ethylene)
£960.32
£0.00
C3 (Propylene)
£848.34
£0.00
SM (Styrene Monomer)
£1,050.71
£18.25
Benzene
£547.51
£32.16
Butadiene
£625.73
-£34.76
Brent Crude (monthly average)
£364.15
£3.90
Exchange Rates
€
1.14
$
1.31
€/$
1.15
Mike Boswell
Executive Chairman – Plastribution Group
Oil Prices
No Data Found
Exchange Rates
No Data Found
UK Economic Data
Topic
Item
Date
Change
Trend
GDP
Real GDP (Q on Q)
Q2 2025
£705,403
PMI
UK Manufacturing PMI
November
50.2
UK Output
Manufacturing Index
Q3 2025
99.8%
Sales
New Car Registrations (Y on Y)
Oct 2025 YoY
0.5%
Sales
Retail Sales (Y on Y)
October 25
102.6%
Labour
Unemployment Rate
Jul 25 – Sept 25
5.0%
Prices
CPI (Y on Y)
October
3.6%
Prices
RPI (Y on Y)
October
4.3%
Interest Rates
Bank of England Base Rate
November
4%
Standard Polymers
Market expectations from November that we have hit the bottom on pricing appear to be holding as we have generally seen rollover for most grades going into December. The exception would appear to be LDPE that is rising in price following the announcement of a Force Majeure at SABIC’s UK plant.
As both C2 ethylene and C3 propylene rolled over, the rollover in polymer pricing was expected, some European producers have attempted to push through increases but only LDPE has seen any upward movement in pricing.
Prices are expected to stay relatively stable in the coming months. There is some expectation of a monomer reduction in January driven by lower Naphtha costs but there will be a lot resistance to drop prices based on this due to the margin erosion through 2025.
Ian Chisnall
Product Manager – Polyolefins
Polyolefins Feedstocks
£/Metric Tonne by month
No Data Found
LDPE
Supply
Demand
Following the announcement of the SABIC Force Majeure, many European producers have announced order stops for LDPE in anticipation of a tightening market in early 2026. December has seen some revision to pricing as initial rollover offers have been replaced with attempts at €30-50 / MT increases. Remains to be seen how impactful the stoppage will be, whilst many European plants are running below capacity and could ramp up production, it’s not clear if there is sufficient ethylene available to meet an increase in demand with many crackers in turnaround. We anticipate tightness in LDPE supply through Q1 next year.
LLDPE
Supply
Demand
LLDPE has rolled over in December in line with monomer. There is some talk of the rise in LDPE helping to lift LLDPE pricing as film extruders adjust blends to reduce reliance on LDPE, but the effects are not likely to be seen until next year.
HDPE
Supply
Demand
HDPE is a similar story to LLDPE with a rollover on all grades. Market a little bit more balanced as buyers start to restock following months of declines and a hand to mouth approach. Likely to stay quite flat in early 2026.
PP
Supply
Demand
PP pricing also appears to be around the bottom with an extended period of stable pricing reported in the industry. Monomer rollover has helped with this, but we are seeing some restrictions in production in Europe and some reports of tightness.
PS
Supply
Demand
PS pricing has risen in line with the monomer increase of €21 / MT. Some are rounding down to €20; some are rounding up to €25. Polystyrene market is a little bit in turmoil with another closure announced this week with Trinseo announcing the closure of their plant in Germany to focus production at their site in Belgium. This comes on top of the announcement last month that Ineos will close their site in France to focus on production in Belgium. Whilst there is spare capacity as the industry is currently running plants at around 60-70%, any interruption could now cause an issue.
Other Polyolefins
EVA pricing has rolled over as we continue to see interruptions to supply in Europe. Speciality POP and POE are typically rollover as they are mostly priced quarterly.
Performance Polymers
As the year draws to a close, the market remains subdued with low demand, high stocks, and cheap imports, particularly from Asia. It does seem as though the rate of price decline is slowing, which may mean that the bottom of the market has been reached. Indeed, POM in particular is showing no further decline in cost. January and a new year may yet bring some upward price trends. December is looking like a quiet month with many producers closing early.
The December benzene contract settled at €630/t, up €37/t from November. The increase was mainly due to the rise in prices on the spot markets, in response to lower import volumes.
Pete Tillin
Product Manager – Performance Polymers
Performance Polymer Feedstocks
£/Metric Tonne by month
No Data Found
ABS
Supply
Demand
High stocks & good availability, coupled with low demand & cheap imports from Asia mean that prices face continued downward pressure, however this could be the last month that this is the case. The styrene monomer contract price increased by €21/t in December, along with ACN up €20/t, but butadiene down another €40/t. This possibly means rollover is the most likely outcome, but prices may well rise into early next year.
PA6
Supply
Demand
The market remains particularly competitive due to weak demand and high inventories. No upturn in demand is expected in the short term so some further discounts should be possible.
PA66
Supply
Demand
The situation for PA66 continues to follow the same trend as PA6 with weak demand, high stock levels, and an incredibly competitive marketplace.
POM
Supply
Demand
A competitive market with good supply and low demand. However there is a possibility of more stable prices, depending on the level of cheaper imports, particularly from Asia.
PC
Supply
Demand
Weak demand, coupled with low production levels in Europe, continued high levels of imports and full inventories means more downwards price pressure.
PMMA
Supply
Demand
The surplus of stock, cheap imports and poor demand means that prices continue to be under downwards pressure.
PBT
Supply
Demand
Weak demand and oversupply means prices remain under downward pressure.
Other Engineering Polymers
The current situation for most other engineering materials is similar, with weak demand, plentiful supply, and therefore downward price pressure.
Sustainable Polymers
Recycled Polyolefins have mostly seen around a rollover reflecting the pricing seen in the virgin market. Industry continues to be under pressure with more closures and announcements surrounding the delay of funding for new plants. European industry continues to lobby governments to secure support for the long term future of the circular economy.
Ian Chisnall
Product Manager – Sustainability
Recycled LDPE / LLDPE
Supply
Demand
Recycled LDPE / LLDPE is mostly a rollover though some we have seen some reports of attempts at increasing pricing following reports of tightness with virgin availability following the Force Majeure at SABIC on LDPE.
Recycled HDPE
Supply
Demand
Recycled HDPE has rolled over in December, demand remains muted but as with virgin pricing, the market perception is that we are at the bottom.
Recycled PP
Supply
Demand
Recycled PP is rolling over in line with virgin prices. Demand appears stable and supply is being adjusted to match it.
