Six resins are carrying September price increase nominations simultaneously — the broadest coordination since early Q2. The supply and demand picture says something different than the letters in your inbox.
This week, Michael Workman breaks down the two-track market that's running through the back half of 2026: commodity resins where buyer leverage is structural and real, and benzene-linked resins where the window is narrower and the mechanism for capturing relief is negotiation, not announcement.
The most important story right now: ABS and PC give-back totaling 11–12 cents has happened over July and August without a single decrease announcement. Buyers who asked in writing with market data got it. Buyers who waited for an announcement didn't. The same pattern is still in play heading into September — and the accounts that act this week will finish the quarter in a materially different cost position than the ones that don't.
Also this week: what crude oil's sharp reversal does and doesn't mean for September nominations, a resin-by-resin watch list through the end of the month, and a buyer action checklist by family.
CHAPTER MARKERS
0:00 Open — September nomination overview: broadest activity since Q2
0:35 Polyethylene — 4 consecutive inventory builds, Golden Triangle capacity online, challenge both initiatives
1:15 Polypropylene — zero resin-side initiatives, PGP down 1.5¢ to 45¢/lb, PP follows feedstock
1:45 PVC — 3rd straight inventory build, India pull-forward confirmed not demand, one nomination ≠ a market
2:15 PET — demand underperformed peak season, PX/PTA floor firming, hurricane season the only watch item
2:50 Benzene-linked transition — why the approach is different in these categories
3:05 Polystyrene — August BZ settled higher, inventories still building, 11¢ initiatives carry real cost support
3:30 PA66 — BASF targeting 8¢ for September; benzene up but butadiene down limits the case
3:45 PA6 — AdvanSix August initiative still open; CPL spot fell sharply this week
4:00 ABS + PC — 11–12¢ out since July through negotiation, not announcement; PC give-back hiding in surcharges
4:50 Crude oil — WTI pulled back from $88 on US-Iran ceasefire; benzene $4.58 → $4.40; what it means
5:20 September watch items — PVC nomination breadth, PC support, PGP spot, Gulf Coast hurricane peak Sept 10
6:20 Buyer action checklist — what to do in commodity resins, ABS/PC, and benzene-linked this week
7:00 Close — "Purchase wisely." — Kevin Mekaru
SHOW NOTES
• September is seeing the broadest coordinated producer nomination activity since early Q2, with PE, PS, PC, PA66, PA6, and PVC all carrying initiatives simultaneously. The supply and demand picture for most of these resins does not support the asks.
• PE inventories have built for four consecutive months. New capacity from the Golden Triangle Polymers joint venture in Orange, Texas is entering the North American market. Producers are pushing August and September initiatives against a healthy supply backdrop.
• The August PGP contract settled down 1.5 cents/lb to 45 cents/lb. There are no PP resin-side initiatives for August or September. Polypropylene pricing is tracking feedstock movement, not supplier strategy. Days of supply are near 38.
• PVC saw its third consecutive inventory build in July. The export surge into India was a pull-forward ahead of India reinstating its minimum import price — not a demand recovery signal. Westlake filed a 2 cent/lb September nomination, the first in approximately three months. One producer filing is a negotiating position, not a market move.
• PET demand underperformed expectations during peak bottle season. Paraxylene and PTA are expected to rebound modestly, providing a firmer cost floor. No September initiatives are on the table. The Gulf Coast hurricane season statistical peak falls on September 10 — near-term coverage should already be in place.
• The August benzene contract settled materially higher, providing real feedstock cost support in polystyrene, ABS, polycarbonate, and both nylons. Not every September initiative in these categories is margin expansion — the cost case in some is legitimate.
• Polystyrene producer initiatives of up to 11 cents/lb have cost support from the August benzene contract. Despite higher operating rates, inventories continued building. The INEOS Styrolution Bayport force majeure briefly tightened styrene availability. July benzene settlement data is the strongest negotiating data point available — use it before August becomes the current figure.
• BASF is proposing an 8 cents/lb PA66 increase for September. Benzene has moved higher but butadiene has come down — the mixed feedstock environment limits the cost case for the full 8 cents.
• AdvanSix's 12 cents/lb PA6 August initiative is still resolving. Caprolactam spot moved notably lower this week — that is a concrete data point to use in near-term conversations. No September PA6 initiatives have been announced. Benzene direction will determine the September setup.
• ABS has declined 11 to 12 cents in aggregate across July and August. That movement has been broad — essentially every domestic ABS producer has provided some relief. It has not come through announced decrease letters. It came through buyers asking in writing with market data. Accounts that have not made the ask are not receiving the relief.
• ABS is moving faster than polycarbonate because import competition pressures domestic producers every month, regardless of feedstock. PC softness is cost-driven, so it stalls when feedstock stalls. The PC give-back is often appearing through surcharge reductions rather than base price changes — track both columns separately or the relief will be invisible in cost reporting.
• WTI moved from approximately $81/bbl to just under $88/bbl during the mid-to-late August period. Brent approached $94. Both pulled back sharply this week on reported US-Iran ceasefire progress, fresh Iran-Oman talks, and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Benzene spot moved from $4.58/gallon to $4.40/gallon.
• For commodity resins, crude geopolitics are largely background noise when supply fundamentals are this strong. For benzene-linked resins, the pullback may further limit the ability to push September nominations through. The September benzene contract has not yet settled.
• Request your ResinSmart benchmark assessment at resinsmart.ai.
