Throughout December 2025, ABS prices in both the U.S and Chinese markets remained stable even though demand remains low due to excess inventory from the past and low feedstock pricing. In the US market, prices continued to be stable, even with the numerous hurdles facing the current state of the petrochemical market. There are some areas of the Petrochemical market that have seen their prices continue to drop due to such things as the excess supply of butadiene, closures of production facilities and continued reductions in demand from downstream operations. As a result, a short turnaround time for INEOS Styrolution has not had an impact on the pricing of ABS in the US, and suppliers have been working to support prices by continuing to price their ABS based on the price of exports instead of on their own internal pricing. In the Chinese markets, prices have now stabilized following a long period of decline that resulted from low inventory on the Japanese market, an increase in production during this period, and a large increase in the volume of Chinese exports.
The prices of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) remained almost stable in the USA and China in the last week of December 2025, although the supply side continued to be troubled with strong resistance from weak demand fundamentals and prolonged upstream raw material market hurdles. Participants across the regions described the week as steady but cautious, with hardly any price swings to speak of as the year was closing.
Butadiene, one of the ABS feedstocks under pressure from oversupply and low domestic demand, was mending from an enormous jolt given by the maintenance shutdown of INEOS Styrolution's Ohio facility, which occurred earlier in December. However, considering rising competition, the shutdown should not have had a serious impact on ABS prices, being too short and too limited to disrupt supplies whenever the opportunity presented itself: December 1 through December 10.
The US chemicals sector was still being squeezed by the confluence of weak demand, spiking costs, and added regulatory burden. Several BD-based derivative plants have closed down earlier this year, including INEOS Styrolution's own ABS plant, highlighting the structural weakness that exists in the downstream markets. All the same, suppliers held prices stable as they were able to back up contracts with netback exports, and that kept ABS from declining through the end of December. The excise of tariffs and trade frictions continued to convolute different market flows, yet the USA became a less cost-selling region.
Meanwhile, ABS prices in China also stabilized after several months of declines. Earlier in Q4, domestic ABS prices witnessed a huge downturn due to aggressive capacity expansions and weak downstream demand. Prices for mainstream grades fell by mid-December but found a temporary floor in the last days of the month.
There were several reasons for this stabilization. First, while China's ABS capacity was greatly increased in 2025 with new plants coming on stream from Yulong Petrochemical, Daqing Petrochemical, Yike Chemical, and Jilin Petrochemical, producers reduced shipments nearing year-end in an effort to manage inventories. Second, raw material prices of styrene, acrylonitrile, and butadiene had already reached annual lows with little room left for any substantial decline due to cost factors. Third, China saw remarkable growth in ABS exports by over 70% year on year, which helped clear some domestic oversupply.
Producers of downstream products from ABS in China show mixed results: weak growth in air conditioners, washing machines; poor growth in color TVs and real estate-linked sectors. Nevertheless, the market allowed no further drop in prices in the last week of December, as both buyers and sellers seemed to be taking a wait-and-see approach in the New Year.
Overall, both the US and China ended 2025 with stable ABS prices, supported by cautious trading, balanced supply management, and absence of any major new shocks. As per ChemAnalyst, Players expect that early 2026 shall nevertheless keep on seeing stability, with the main risks remaining oversupply with weak demand.
