US R-HDPE Prices Spike 1.8% Then Plunge 6.65% in Late January Amid Substitution to Virgin Resin

Demand for R-HDPE was very strong in the early part of the third week of January of xxxx, half of consumer-goods packaging was involved, Folding Intermediate Bulk Container (FIBC) accounted for more than half of the regional offtake, and production of baseline chemical manufacturing exceeded xxx million tons. A xxx post-consumer resin mandate for beverage containers for sustainable products under California’s AB xxx compressed spot supply and raised bids. Demand had been softening by the fourth week as converters switched to virgin HDPE on account of R-HDPE premiums and early-season lull in orders for mixed-colored bales for agriculture pipe brought purchases to a halt, leading to growing yard inventories and increasing downward pressure.

R-HDPE supply remained responsive to demand shifts. Domestic production and imports responded quickly, with competing inflows being curtailed by a xxx tariff on R-HDPE pellets from Thailand, providing some marginal...