US TPE Prices Rise on Tight Global Supply and Robust Domestic Consumption

Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPE) prices in the United States advanced *.*** in early June ****, posting a remarkable market divergence — rising despite ethylene feedstock costs declining **.**, butadiene falling *.**, and styrene retreating *.** during the reference week — as the extraordinary structural supply void created by the prolonged Middle East war&#**;s elimination of Gulf TPE competitors, peak US automotive and EV manufacturing sector demand, and the cascading impact of *** auto parts tariffs on domestic production economics overwhelmed the theoretically moderating feedstock cost dynamics.

The extraordinary decoupling between declining feedstock costs and rising finished product prices reflects the fundamental demand-pull dynamics reshaping the US TPE market. SABIC — among the world&#**;s largest TPE producers with extensive Gulf Coast chemical integration — has maintained severely constrained production since the Hormuz blockade began February **, ****. With the reports confirming that cumulative Gulf supply losses...