In US Polypropylene prices increased by roughly 1.05% in the first week of February on the back of tight feedstock supply and strong downstream demand. The polypropylene market changed from balanced in the Jan to tight & imbalanced in earlier Feb as packaging and healthcare converters were buyers and trim plant operation. Gulf run-rates fell due to severe winter weather and downtime for regulatory retrofits, driving up spot offers & assessments in February. Demand was wide-ranging but patchy on the application spectrum where the automotive business remained buoyant and offered incremental support for copolymer grades. Blow molding and rigid pharmaceutical packaging both demonstrated solid strength, secured lots for inhalers and vials, and pre-hurricane stocking continued. E-commerce and parcel mail demand supported demand for lightweight mailers, so the ‘layered’ backdrop helped push up the offerings of some grades.
The buyers of Polypropylene Copolymer for early February 2026 came from all areas but were active unevenly in the application fields. Automotive call-off continued strong, keeping the railcar turnover still busy, and the polypropylene market was given incremental strength on the upside. Rigid packaging converters continued to speed pre-seasonal stocking, pharma and healthcare packaging was clearly strong AptarGroup's continuing moving for inhalers and vials continued to thin spot inventories. After e-commerce and parcels pick up additional support from light weight mailer needs, the multi-layer background serve to uplift the offers for some grades.
Polypropylene supply became progressively tight in late January and into early February. Stop-start tightening of polymer-grade propylene streams during the middle of January followed by a Gulf Coast PDH unit outage on January 25 significantly reduced feedstock availability. Vikings storm 27 January Winterstorms send Henry Hub natural gas prices sharply up, 3 Gulf plants slow Severe cold weather on 27 January sent Henry Hub natural gas prices sharply higher, the price of natural gas delivered at the benchmark hub in Louisiana. Newly announced EPA VOC limitations caused short-term retrofit downtime at some units, while multiple force majeure incidents and weather-related shutdowns (including several days stoppages at big Gulf Coast sites) exacerbated the squeeze on polypropylene running rates. Domestic suppliers were under pressure to deliver polypropylene, with no relief emerging as of early February. Imports provided little in the way of relief as global fundamentals failed to balance out the domestic tightness.
The US polypropylene copolymer market is expected to trade stronger through mid-February 2026 as tight polymer-grade propylene supply, weather-related production cuts, regulatory downtime, and consistent downstream consumption (automotive, rigid packaging, healthcare) will likely overshadow any short-term relief. Seasonal pre-hurricane stocking and strength in automotive continue to underpin strength although trajectory is very much determined by feedstock recovery, plant restarts and weather normalization. Gulf operating rates and restocking trends continued tightness and pushed polypropylene prices higher.
As per ChemAnalyst anticipation, US Polypropylene market is expected to remain positive. Tight polymer-grade propylene supplies due to PDH outages and curtailments and winter-related shutdowns causing production rate to elevate, and solid demand from automotive, rigid packaging and pharmaceutical users. Though polypropylene trajectory depends on feedstock recovery, plant restarts, and weather normalization. Buyers are suggested to monitor propylene availability, Gulf operating rates, and restocking patterns sustained tightness could drive further gains, while supply restoration or demand moderation may cap the move.
