Resin pricing changes abundant in a short February

Plastics News, March 1, 2018 February may be the shortest month, but it was a busy one for commodity resin pricing. Regional prices for polyethylene, PVC, solid polystyrene and PET bottle resin all finished higher for the month, while polypropylene took a dive

Plastics News, February 15, 2018 ,Updated 2,16,2018 In a major global plastics materials deal, LyondellBasell Industries is acquiring A. Schulman Inc. for $2.25 billion. LBI — based in Houston and London — is one of the world's largest producers of olefins and polyolefins, including polypropylene and polyethylene resins. Fairlawn, Ohio-based Schulman is a leading compounder and concentrates maker in North America and Europe and also ranks as one of Europe's largest resin distributors.

Plastics News, January 12, 2018 File photo Bill Ridenour, president of Polymer Transactions Inc., says changes to the U.S. tax structure could drive up prices in mergers and acquisitions. Recent tax cuts passed in the U.S. could have an upward impact on the mergers and acquisitions field.

Plastics News, December 20, 2017 Mother Nature in 2017 did her part to reduce the impact of the polyethylene wave on North America. At the same time, the regional polypropylene market might be preparing for a wave of its own.

Plastics News, December 19, 2017 An increase in U.S. housing starts gave a boost to the regional PVC market through most of 2017. Through October, housing starts were on pace to finish at around 1.25 million units, up a little more than 4 percent vs. 2016. In a similar trend, domestic U.S./Canadian PVC sales — more than 60 percent of which come from construction uses — were up more than 4 percent in the first 10 months of the year.