Military escalation in the Middle East has introduced significant uncertainty into global polyethylene and polypropylene markets.

In 2024, the Middle East accounted for:
 • 37% of globally traded PE exports
 • 28% of globally traded PP exports

With approximately 16 million metric tons of polyethylene exports potentially exposed to disruption, the implications extend far beyond the region.

In this episode of Resin Market Moves, we analyze:
 • The scale of global polyolefins trade exposure
 • Why North American buyers are indirectly impacted
 • How export pull can tighten domestic markets
 • The role of oil and natural gas in near-term cost pressure
 • Practical steps resin buyers should take immediately

This episode is focused on structure, not headlines.

Because in volatile markets, discipline is the advantage.

The Supreme Court just reshaped U.S. tariff authority, eliminating IEEPA as a tool for broad-based tariffs. What does that mean for polyethylene, polypropylene, and PVC buyers?

In this episode, we examine:

• PE inventory build of 289M lbs 
• Elevated PGP and its impact on PP
• Turnaround-driven PVC support
• Feedstock inflation risks
• How structural pricing drift builds in opaque markets

For executives responsible for resin spend and EBITDA protection in 2026 - subscribe to stay tuned. https://resinsmart.ai/subscribe

Recorded live from Fort Worth, the ResinSmart by RTI team kicks off 2026 with a candid roundtable discussion on the forces shaping resin markets this year.

With resin prices near multi-year lows, procurement teams face a new challenge: proving value when the market did most of the work in 2025.

In this episode, Michael Workman, Brian Balboa, Kevin Mekaru, and Tyler Wheeler discuss:

• What polyethylene overcapacity means for buyers
• How Non-Market Adjustments reset pricing baselines
• Why tariff volatility has calmed — but risk hasn’t disappeared
• Engineered resin disruption following major divestitures
• How dual sourcing drives real leverage
• Why traditional consulting RFP models fall short in resin markets
• What private equity firms often overlook in resin diligence
• The shift from price reduction to risk management

This is a practical, strategy-focused discussion for procurement leaders, CFOs, and private equity operators in plastics manufacturing.

Key Takeaways

Low prices create leverage — but only if you act
NMA drift should be addressed before contract reset
Producers are hungry — now is the time to qualify alternates
Procurement credibility matters more in a down market
Resin strategy is central to EBITDA in plastics businesses

If you want to understand how these market dynamics impact your specific resin portfolio, visit us today at ResinSmart.ai

A major North American pricing index just announced a non-market adjustment (NMA) for polyethylene. Depending on the grade, the impact is between 25cpp-35cpp.

On paper, it looks like a massive correction.

In reality?
It’s creating confusion across procurement, finance, and executive leadership teams.

A non-market adjustment corrects index history — it does not automatically change your invoice.

It is not driven by supply/demand or feedstock collapse.

Once accepted, elevated baselines can persist for multiple cycles.

The first move is validation — not panic renegotiation.

For polyethylene-heavy buyers, this isn’t just noise.
It affects everything.
-Budget variance
-Margin transparency
-Negotiation leverage
-Long-term profitability

The real damage isn’t the number.
It’s what happens if you accept it without understanding your grade-by-grade exposure.

In this special edition of the Resin Market Brief, Brian Balboa and Kevin Mekaru break down:
What an NMA actually is
Why it happens
Why PE buyers are uniquely exposed
What smart procurement teams are doing right now

If your contracts are index-linked, this is required listening.

#ResinSmart #Polyethylene #ProcurementStrategy #NonMarketAdjustment #PlasticsIndustry #ResinPricing #CFOInsights

Early 2026 is not behaving like a typical resin cycle.

Polyethylene inventories surged nearly 289MM pounds — yet producers are pushing price increases.

Polypropylene is seeing feedstock pressure.
Polystyrene is reacting to benzene spikes.
PVC is tightening due to turnaround season.
PET remains weak — for now.

So what’s real?

In this episode of Resin Market Brief, Michael Workman explains:

• Why inventory builds don’t automatically mean price relief
• How feedstock reliability is quietly driving polypropylene
• Why engineered resins look stable on the surface — but aren’t underneath
• The structural risks resin buyers face in 2026
• And how forecasting frameworks must evolve to defend decisions

This episode expands on our recent webinar:
“Why Resin Forecasts Break & How Buyers Defend Them.”

If you’re responsible for resin procurement, margin protection, or portfolio performance, this conversation will sharpen how you interpret today’s market signals.

Visit ResinSmart.ai to explore tools that turn signal into strategy.

There are two types of resin buyers: those who’ve been wrong on a forecast—and those who will be.

In this special edition of Resin Market Brief, Michael Workman and Tyler Wheeler discuss why resin forecasts break and what top procurement teams do differently to defend them.

Key topics:

• why forecasts aren’t predictions—they’re decision tools for finance and operations
• the 9 levers that drive resin forecasting (petrochemical chain, supply, demand, margin strategy, freight, tax/tariff/trade, regulatory timing, rebates/credits)
• signal vs. noise (and why some headlines don’t actually move price)
• cross-functional validation: turning “my forecast” into “the company forecast”
• confidence ranges and when to update finance without creating noise
• why most tools provide numbers, but not context—and what to do about it

To explore ResinSmart forecasts and get a complimentary benchmarking assessment, visit https://resinsmart.ai.

In this episode of Resin Market Moves, Michael Workman, Executive Director of ResinSmart, walks through the key risks shaping the North American plastic resin market in early 2026.

Rather than a demand-led recovery, markets are being driven by:

• supply discipline in polyethylene
• feedstock volatility in polypropylene
• cost push without demand support in polystyrene
• rising raw material costs beneath stable pricing in ABS and polycarbonate
• early supplier initiatives in nylons
• and continued buyer leverage in PET

Michael also shares insights from MD&M West 2026, where medical device manufacturers emphasized the high cost of pricing surprises in regulated, long-cycle environments — and why benchmarking is becoming the preferred first step.

This episode focuses on risk, structure, and discipline, not price predictions — and offers a framework buyers can use to navigate 2026 with confidence.

January set the tone for 2026: selective tightening, feedstock volatility, and supplier initiatives moving faster than demand.

This week’s Resin Market Moves covers:

• PE increases driven by supply discipline
• PP feedstock pressure from PDH outages
• PS cost push without demand support
• Engineering resins stable, but RMC rising
• Nylon supplier initiatives ahead of fundamentals
• PET rollover and what to watch in Q2

Learn more at resinsmart.ai.

In this episode, Michael Workman reviews the key signals shaping resin procurement through late January 2026: cautious macro conditions, energy/feedstock volatility, and supply disruptions that are tightening select resin chains.

Key topics:

• PE: winter storm disruption risk + Ineos FM tightening HD pipe/film
• PP: PDH outages lifting PGP and pushing contracts higher
• PS: benzene-driven cost pressure vs. sluggish demand
• PVC: capacity reductions vs. weak construction demand
• Engineering resins: stable base prices but rising RMC
• PET: slow fundamentals, limited pricing power

This is a year where signals matter more than narratives—and discipline will determine who holds leverage. Get started today at resinsmart.ai. 

This week’s Resin Market Moves breaks down how supply-side events and feedstock pressure are shaping resin pricing early in 2026.

We cover:

• PE force majeure and rising January nominations
• PP feedstock-driven pricing pressure
• PVC capacity closures and pricing risk
• PS increases tied to benzene
• What rising RMC means for engineering resins

This is not a uniform upcycle—it’s a selective, volatility-driven market. Buyers who focus on inventories, operating rates, and feedstocks will retain leverage.

Learn more at resinsmart.ai.