Last week's spot resin market also failed to escape the economic uncertainty caused by COVID-19. The Chicago Plastics Exchange stated in its latest market report that although buyers and sellers have been active in enquiries, processors are usually worried about triggering transactions, so the final volume of transactions completed is below average.

Polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) prices remained stable, with most of them falling by $ 0.01 / lb. Buyers are happy to see that resin prices continue to fall, but some people expect a greater and faster decline. Although various sectors of the plastics industry have been declared indispensable and resin production and processing facilities can continue to be opened, some resin buyers have begun to temporarily close, including those that provide raw materials for the automotive industry, in view of this popularity Due to the severe economic recession caused by the disease, the automotive industry is expected to weaken demand. It is gratifying that, given the strong demand for daily necessities and food delivery, governments have relaxed restrictions on disposable plastics and believe that disposable plastics are safer for consumers. The export market has always faced unfavorable factors: the dual factors of a stronger dollar and lower crude oil costs have made international resin manufacturers increasingly competitive with US producers. The Plastics Exchange said that the combination of these two factors may depress exports and suppress Houston prices.

Although all unknown factors are hovering around the world, the PE spot market is actually quite active. Despite the generally difficult trades and intense negotiations, the number of transactions completed on the trading desk of the Plastic Exchange is close to the weekly average of the exchange over the past 12 months. The impression that the US industry is completely stopped is untrue, because there are almost no temporary factory closures in some parts of the country. Given the importance of the plastic industry in the medical and food industries and general supply chain packaging, most states consider the plastic industry to be essential.

Despite sufficient trading volume, demand is still declining, and PE prices are expected to decline in the coming months. Most spot prices fell by 1 cent last week, except for film grade LDPE and injection grade LLDPE. The $ 0.04 / lb price increase in March was suspended by the producers; they will face challenges to avoid downward pressure on prices in the coming months. The Plastics Exchange reported that international resin demand continues to flow in, but with global prices falling, prices are expected to fall sharply, and due to the sharp decline in crude oil raw materials leading to cost reductions, competition among manufacturers in regional markets has become extremely fierce.

Some PP transactions slowed down due to some non-essential businesses reducing or temporarily suspending operations in response to local government instructions. The slowdown in consumption-driven demand, coupled with falling oil prices, has caused buyers to postpone purchases until the dust settles, or for some people, price cuts are just around the corner. In terms of completed transactions, the volume of transactions is conducive to non-grade truck transportation. PP copolymer is the main driving factor, and most of the transactions are between distributors and processors.

Despite the lack of demand, the supply of most high-quality PP homopolymers and PP copolymers is still quite tight. The price of PP fell by 0.01 USD / lb for the fourth consecutive week, which was the same as that of PGP in March, which had just dropped by 0.04 USD / lb. The Plastic Exchange said that mainly due to planned and unplanned shutdowns, raw material prices have changed, but with the reduction in supply, raw material prices have remained at a level higher than non-raw material prices, and non-raw material prices have appeared A larger discount. The contract price may be hit another time as the market focuses on the upcoming April PGP cost, which is also expected to fall sharply.