Price Reports December 2025

The following information is provided by Plastics Information Europe.  For more than 35 years, PIE has been an invaluable source of information for European plastics industry decision makers - a quick, yet in-depth look at the development of plastics markets and polymer prices. Available online 24/7 and as a printed newsletter twice a month. To read entire versions of the following reports, go to www.pieweb.com and sign up for a 48-hour free trial!

  Standard thermoplastics December: Prices mostly stable amid weak year-end demand / Industry enters 2026 with ample supply and low expectations / Cautious start to the year with little hope for early recovery

PE: For the most part, converters found it easy to resist producers’ attempts to push through price increases. Negotiations often resulted in price stability, reflecting the rollover in the ethylene contract price as well as the lack of orders. Import volumes continue to prevent the market from rebalancing, despite ongoing cutbacks at European plants. As is typical at year-end, many converters shut down their production lines after mid-month and began with maintenance work and stock-taking. In quite a few cases, parts of the workforce were sent on Christmas leave early. The question on everyone’s mind is: how are things going to go in 2026? While the large packaging segment continues to provide a fairly stable supply of orders, nearly all converters prefer to purchase the material they need at the very last minute and at the lowest possible prices. This is intended to give them an edge over domestic competitors and to at least partially keep pace with low-priced Asian imports. However, the prospects of achieving this are poor. A recovery in demand in the first half of the year is not expected. Prices are therefore likely to depend primarily on how effectively producers maintain control over supply.

PP: Some players will probably be pleased about the conclusion of 2025. At least at the negotiating tables every effort was made to quickly finalise the monthly discussions for December. The contracts often followed the lead of the precursor, propylene, and kept prices at the previous month’s level. Those who still bought material usually did so in order to achieve certain quantities for their annual bonus – and only in return for further price concessions. As is usual at the end of the year, producers and processors were keen to reduce their inventory levels in order to bolster their balance sheets. The market for homopolymer grades was clearly oversupplied. The oversupply of copolymer grades and compounds was not quite as noticeable. The outlook for 2026 is still bleak in many places. Only optimists expect an improvement in the near future. However, the fact that the propylene contract for January fell by EUR 30/t is likely to result in further price adjustments, albeit not to the full extent of the monomer reduction. As a result, the mood is likely to improve slightly, at least among processors.

PVC: The development in PVC prices largely followed feedstock ethylene. As a result, the monthly PVC contract was fixed at a rollover. There was little else to negotiate for December, and attention quickly shifted to the annual contract discussions for 2026. Supply was more than sufficient, with demand running at a very low level as the year drew to a close. The year-end period was nevertheless marked by an unpleasant surprise – the announcement of the insolvency of Vynova Wilhelmshaven. This development inevitably forced a number of converters to reorient themselves once again during the course of their annual negotiations. It also dampened the mood among those who had already concluded agreements with alternative suppliers. The insolvency once again underscores the current precarious state of the European PVC industry. Against this backdrop, producers are likely to attempt to avoid passing on the EUR 25/t reduction in ethylene prices in January, particularly as the new starting prices for 2026 already represent a downward adjustment.

Styrenics: In December 2025, the eight-month downward trend in styrenics prices came to an end. After the styrene reference increased for the first time in a long while in the year-end month (up EUR 21/t), prices for polystyrene and EPS also trended up slightly. ABS prices only managed a (in some cases strong) rollover, as the decline in the cost of butadiene (down EUR 40/t) outweighed the ACN cost increase (up EUR 20/t). All in all, demand for styrenics remained weak in December. Although orders for polystyrene were not quite as bad as expected, demand for ABS and EPS still had plenty of room for improvement. The sluggish economy was compounded by the low number of production days, as many companies took extended factory holidays. In addition, many processors were reluctant to build up stocks for balance-sheet reasons. In January, prices for polystyrene and EPS are likely to edge up again, following another modest increase in the styrene contract price (again up EUR 21/t). ABS, however, is likely to see another rollover, as declines in butadiene (down EUR 20/t) and ACN (down EUR 36/t) offset the upward trend of styrene. In view of the ample supply situation, slight reductions cannot be ruled out, either. Meanwhile, there are several aspects that should support styrenics prices as the year progresses. For polystyrene, this includes the consolidation of production capacity. While imports are continuing to rise, the closure of two production facilities in France and Germany should nevertheless reduce the existing oversupply. EPS, meanwhile, could benefit from growing signs that the long dry spell in residential construction is coming to an end. However, it will probably be some time before the rising number of building permits is reflected in demand for EPS. That leaves ABS: European suppliers are likely to benefit from the fact that the European Commission is considering setting the final anti-dumping tariffs on materials from South Korea at a higher level than the provisional punitive tariffs currently in place. A decision on this is expected in February.

PET: As expected, little happened on the European PET market in December 2025. Demand continued to be weak, with business running at a correspondingly sluggish pace. Everyone has long since turned their attention to the new year. All in all, the situation led to cautious rollovers in an overwhelming majority of cases. No one is expecting a significant upturn at the start of the year. The prevailing attitude is one of wait and see. In the interests of security of supply, large-scale consumers report that they are considering providing selective support for European production on strategic grounds. The economic situation is thus increasingly being factored into the calculations of the companies operating here – a highly interesting and presumably unavoidable development. Overall, only slight changes are set to come about in January.

For more than 35 years, PIE has been an invaluable source of information for European plastics industry decision makers - a quick, yet in-depth look at the development of plastics markets and polymer prices. Available online 24/7 and as a printed newsletter twice a month. To read the entire report, go to www.pieweb.com and sign up for a 48-hour free trial!

  Engineering thermoplastics December: Curtailed plant operations, lower imports sufficient to supply market / Hesitant increase in orders from automotive industry

The price reductions negotiated back in October for Q4 2025 were also reflected in December. By contrast, monthly spot contracts were marked by the usual Christmas lull and were mostly fixed at a rollover. Most European plants continued to operate at reduced rates in order to avoid swelling producers’ inventories further. Imports from Asia also arrived in Europe in smaller volumes. Demand remained weak, as many processors went into the Christmas break early after completing their limited order books.

Suppliers’ stocks are well-filled. This will likely continue to be a topic for price negotiations – and is likely to exert significant pressure on quotations. Call-offs from the automotive industry are also picking up more slowly than expected and hoped. Compounding lines are gradually being brought back into operation, but at a considerably slower pace than in previous years. January is often seen as a transition month. For converters, it is too early to fill their stocks on a large scale. Apart from that, it is not yet possible to reliably estimate how demand will develop in the first quarter.

For more than 35 years, PIE has been an invaluable source of information for European plastics industry decision makers - a quick, yet in-depth look at the development of plastics markets and polymer prices. Available online 24/7 and as a printed newsletter twice a month. To read the entire report, go to www.pieweb.com and sign up for a 48-hour free trial!

 Polyurethane feedstocks December: Another significant correction for TDI / All other materials at a rollover

There wasn’t a lot of activity in December. This is at least true for most materials. MDI producers wanted to increase prices following the recent rise in the benzene reference (up EUR 37/t) but were unable to push this through in view of the weak demand. A rollover was agreed upon for the most part, and there were even discounts in some cases. The same applies to polyols. Things were livelier for TDI: after the price jump in September, the correction continued with additional triple-digit discounts. Nevertheless, prices remained above the August level.

There is therefore still some room for further price adjustments for TDI in January, even if they are not likely to be quite as significant as recently. No stimulation is expected from demand, neither for TDI nor for the other materials. On the contrary, demand continues to languish at a low level, especially as many processors are still on extended factory holidays at the beginning of the month, which means there are fewer production days remaining. In view of the continued low demand, prices for MDI and polyols are also likely to remain more or less at the previous month’s level.

For more than 35 years, PIE has been an invaluable source of information for European plastics industry decision makers - a quick, yet in-depth look at the development of plastics markets and polymer prices. Available online 24/7 and as a printed newsletter twice a month. To read the entire report, go to www.pieweb.com and sign up for a 48-hour free trial!

  Composites/GRP December: Largely stable at year-end / January also likely to see only limited movement / Minor stimulus from stock replenishment

Despite the small price increase in the main precursor styrene, prices for ortho resins remained stable in December due to weak demand. This is scarcely set to change in January. Although the styrene contract went up by EUR 21/t again and slight restocking tendencies are likely to trigger some turbulence on the market over the weeks to come, PIE nonetheless expects an overall rollover, with at most very small upward price adjustments.

In glass fibre products, there was some movement in the market towards the end of the year – particularly for rovings. Large-scale purchasers exploited their market power and were able to achieve reductions of up to EUR 50/t, while small purchasers had to accept a rollover in most cases. Chopped strand mats, by contrast, were still under pressure from cheap Asian imports and reacted with falling prices. The few transactions so far known for the first quarter of 2026, as with resins, point to a carryover of the previous month’s settlements. Initial orders from processors to replenish inventories are likely to support price stability.

For more than 35 years, PIE has been an invaluable source of information for European plastics industry decision makers - a quick, yet in-depth look at the development of plastics markets and polymer prices. Available online 24/7 and as a printed newsletter twice a month. To read the entire report, go to www.pieweb.com and sign up for a 48-hour free trial!

 Standard recyclate December: Ample stock and little demand – short production month reveals market glut / Companies to close early

December is a short production month and the market is oversupplied. Some suppliers have slightly lowered their prices again to sell any volumes at all. The supply situation in the first half of the month was not affected, although many plants are still only running at reduced capacity or have been shut down completely for maintenance. This is because stock levels are high and ordering is virtually non-existent. In addition, some production cycles were coming to an end. Many processors therefore announced that they would be shutting down their plants early and going on holiday.

The situation for recyclers is unlikely to improve any time soon, even next year. Slightly increasing virgin material prices might at least help them to keep prices stable. PET recyclers in particular will likely try to start the new year with stable prices: their margins are so thin that further price cuts would bleed them dry. Sufficient material is also expected to be available in the new year, which for many companies only starts in the second week of January. Significant momentum in ordering activity is therefore not to be expected.

For more than 35 years, PIE has been an invaluable source of information for European plastics industry decision makers - a quick, yet in-depth look at the development of plastics markets and polymer prices. Available online 24/7 and as a printed newsletter twice a month. To read the entire report, go to www.pieweb.com and sign up for a 48-hour free trial!

 Engineering recyclate December: Cheap virgin material puts prices under further pressure / Early maintenance shutdowns / Glimmer of hope emerges for January

The renewed drop in virgin material prices placed further pressure on recyclates. Recyclers had little ability to counter this, and price corrections therefore followed swiftly. According to PIE’s price panel, adjustments across all polymer grades ranged between EUR 10/t and EUR 50/t.

Compounding activities were already in year-end mode and running at significantly reduced rates. Nevertheless, contracts could be fulfilled at all times. Recycling companies will likely use holiday periods and plant shutdowns to carry out maintenance work. Demand was once again significantly weaker in December than in the previous month. The much lower ordering activity was due in many cases to very early plant shutdowns by the customer industries.

On the other hand, some recycling companies are positively surprised about the preliminary orders coming in for January. There appears to be a certain restocking effect to report. As a result, compounding lines will likely be restarted in early January to meet the somewhat more solid demand. To reach a normal level, however, more orders are needed.

For more than 35 years, PIE has been an invaluable source of information for European plastics industry decision makers - a quick, yet in-depth look at the development of plastics markets and polymer prices. Available online 24/7 and as a printed newsletter twice a month. To read the entire report, go to www.pieweb.com and sign up for a 48-hour free trial!