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Polyethylene had quite the start to October, as a heavy flow of offers and lower prices were met by solid processor demand. Buyers were eager to snatch up discounted material, especially late in the week once the port strike had ended and sentiment improved. All PE commodity grades peeled off a penny from the previous week. Discounted railcars continued to drive our volumes, outstripping our packaged truckload business. LLDPE for film was again our main mover, followed closely by HDPE, while LDPE for film, which remained tight and not liberally discounted, picked up the rear. The active trading generated a high volume of transactions across our platform, it was a welcome start to the 4th quarter.
Despite the strike, export demand for US Polyethylene remained strong, and while some international buyers were still trying to bid the market lower, there was also a sense of panic from those recognizing that if the strike were to last a month, some 2 billion pounds of Polyethylene would be withheld from international markets, revealing the world’s reliance on US resin. By the end of the week, the port strike had lifted, and we were back to booking export orders against pent-up demand. The large Crude Oil gains, if sustained, will lead to higher international feedstock costs and is already becoming supportive to international resin pricing. In the meantime, a lot of resin has backed up and has created an overhang in the domestic market. This could make it difficult to implement the current price increase, which continues to roll from previous months, but it’s also very early and plenty can change.
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At The Plastics Exchange, LLDPE Film is valued for its outstanding toughness and stretchability, ideal for producing stretch wrap, plastic bags, and flexible tubing. This film type combines the elasticity of LDPE with enhanced resistance to punctures and tears, making it suitable for demanding packaging applications.
LLDPE Film's superior tensile strength and flexibility ensure it performs reliably under varying pressures, making it a favorite in both consumer and industrial markets for its durability and adaptability to complex shapes and uses.
