By mid-November 2025, the EPDM Rubber market had shown stable to modest upside, driven by the increase in downstream activity, proper supply management, and less volatile feedstock at this time across the regions. In early November, both the United States and South Korea experienced mixed conditions. However, once mid-November was reached both the US and Asian market saw more consistent purchasing practices, negative trade flows have helped to tighten what had been a rather stable outlook for the EPDM Rubber market.
As US market prices for EPDM Rubber rose due to increased international purchasing activity, distributors were securing product for winter production cycles. Manufacturers previously passed along the lower price of EPDM Rubber associated with reduced petrochemical pricing due to reduced raw material costs. Manufacturing was able to increase production levels due to availability of ample feedstock supply and full-scale manufacturing capabilities. While Hexpol's North American division reported lower Q3 2025 volumes due to slow automotive production and ongoing economic uncertainty, overall US manufacturing has improved due to strong construction activity and growing domestic order volumes for rubber products used in a wide variety of applications, such as EPDM Rubber. Internationally, vehicle sales trends were mixed. Mexico experienced a 10.71% (MoM) increase in light vehicle sales, totalling 129,736 units in October 2025, while the UK had a decrease of 53.67% (MoM) in light vehicle sales, totalling 144,948 units and Belgium saw a YoY decrease of 6.80% in light vehicle sales, totalling 33,955 units. Despite mixed results from international markets, domestic stability contributed to distributor confidence and the moderate increase in EPDM Rubber pricing seen at mid-month.
From the Asian industrial front, Overall business performance is mixed as Mitsui Chemicals had a solid elastomer performance. However, the company has experienced softer margins, primarily caused by declining trade conditions. Compared to the previous year, revenue from Mobility Solutions (which includes elastomers) continued to fall from 276.8 billion yen to 258.2 billion yen. Naphtha cracker operating rates remained low due to a decrease in downstream demand and previously scheduled plant maintenance, creating an overall negative climate.
Total EPDM Rubber exports from South Korea were reported to have reached 16,967.80 MT in September 2025, an 8.70% month-on-month decrease; however, EPDM Rubber from this market was supplied to meet global customer commitments. Statistics Japan reported EPDM Rubber exports from Japan were reported to have declined by 8.02% month-on-month and reached a volume of 4,414.829 MT for all commodity types in September 2025. The previously negative domestic market outlook for the Korean manufacturing industry due to the recent severe economic downturn and a decrease of 17.7% in new vehicle sales to 102,364 units, as well as a decrease of 16% in new construction starts, was beginning to stabilize due to restocking for end-of-year volume requirements.
As per the ChemAnalyst anticipations, the price of the EPDM Rubber is expected to showcase stability in the upcoming sessions. This projection of fluctuation in the EPDM Rubber price is majorly aligned with the no major aggressive bidding for the inventory’s accumulation from the market participants and ample of the feedstock supply with no major change in the demand from the downstream segment will impact the EPDM Rubber price stability in near term.
