by Freedonia Industry Studies
March 9, 2020
In a recent Plastics News article, watchers of the chemical market give a relatively optimistic outlook for the effect of COVID-19 on plastic resin markets. Market disruptions are described as likely to be “temporary” and to even provide some growth opportunities, such as PET for water bottles and polyethylene for cleaning chemical containers. Additionally, China appears to be recovering from its virus-induced economic shutdown.
However, the coronavirus could hardly come at a worse time for US plastic resin producers. The industry is going through a shale gas-driven building boom, with billions of pounds of new resin production capacity opening in the past few years and billions more in the works. Yet sluggishness in the US manufacturing sector during 2019 dried up demand for plastic resin, raising the question of where all the new capacity is going to go. Sustainability pressures – including bans on single-use plastic products – are also on the rise.
Resin producers had hoped for a rebound in 2020, but instead are faced with another economic shock from COVID-19. While the jury is still out on how severe the economic effects of the virus will be, even a “minimal” or “temporary” downturn is not what the US plastics industry was looking for.
For more information, see Freedonia Group’s coverage of the plastics industry.