Last week's spot resin market also failed to escape the economic uncertainty caused by covid-19. In its latest market report, the Chicago Plastics Exchange said that while inquiries from both buyers and sellers were active, processors often worried about triggering transactions, so the volume of transactions ultimately completed was below average. Polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) prices remained stable, with most of them down $0.01/lb. Buyers are happy to see resin prices continue to fall, but some expect a larger and faster decline. Although various sectors of the plastics industry have been declared essential and resin production and processing facilities can continue to open, some resin buyers have begun to close temporarily, including those who supply raw materials for the automotive industry, which is expected to see weaker demand in view of the severe economic downturn caused by the epidemic. It is gratifying that, in view of the strong demand for daily necessities and food takeout, governments have relaxed the restrictions on disposable plastics, believing that disposable plastics are safer for consumers. The export market has always been faced with adverse factors: the strength of the US dollar and the decline of crude oil cost, which make the competition between international resin producers and American producers increasingly fierce. The Plastics Exchange said the combination of the two factors could curb exports and depress Houston prices. Although all the unknown factors are hovering around the world, PE spot market is actually quite active. Despite generally difficult trading and intense negotiations, the number of transactions completed by the trading desks of the plastic exchange is close to the weekly average of the exchange over the past 12 months. The impression that American industry was completely shut down is untrue, as there are few temporary closures in some parts of the country. Given the importance of the plastics industry in the healthcare and food industries as well as in general supply chain packaging, most states consider the plastics industry essential. Despite ample volume, demand is still falling and PE prices are expected to decline in the coming months. Most spot prices fell 1 cent last week, except for film grade LDPE and injection grade LLDPE. The $0.04 per pound increase in March was suspended by producers; they will face challenges to avoid downward pressure in the coming months. The plastics exchange reported that international resin demand continued to flow in, but as global prices fell, price expectations also fell sharply, while producers in the regional market became extremely competitive as the cost of crude oil raw materials fell sharply. Spot PP transactions slowed down as some non essential businesses responded to local government instructions to reduce or temporarily suspend operations. A slowdown in consumer driven demand, coupled with a fall in oil prices, has led buyers to delay buying until the dust settles, or for some, a price cut is just around the corner. As far as the completed transactions are concerned, the volume is favorable for non grade truck transportation, PP copolymer is the main driving factor, and most transactions are conducted between distributors and processors. Despite the lack of demand, the supply of most high-quality PP homopolymers and PP copolymers is still quite tight. PP prices fell $0.01/lb for the fourth straight week, flat with Pgp in March, which also just fell $0.04/lb. According to the plastic exchange, the price of raw materials has changed mainly due to planned and unscheduled outage, but with the decrease of supply, the price of raw materials has remained higher than the price of non raw materials, while the price of non raw materials has been greatly discounted. Contract prices are likely to be hit another time as the market focuses on the upcoming PGP cost in April, which is also expected to decline sharply. This article is translated by China Plastics online. If you need to reprint it, please indicate the source, otherwise it will be deemed as infringement.