prodchem
Aug 10, 2026
U.S. plastic resin exports continued to demonstrate the competitive strength of American petrochemical production in 2025, supported by relatively competitive energy and feedstock costs.
According to the American Chemistry Council (ACC), U.S. plastic resin exports remained resilient, with exports reaching approximately 2.1 million metric tons in July 2025, up 2.7% from the same month a year earlier. U.S. resin production also reached a record 9.2 billion pounds during July.
The export performance highlights an important structural advantage for U.S. resin producers: access to abundant natural gas and natural gas liquids has helped keep petrochemical feedstock costs competitive compared with many production regions that rely more heavily on crude-oil-derived naphtha.
Plastic resin production is highly sensitive to energy and feedstock costs.
The United States benefits from extensive domestic natural gas production, which provides producers with access to ethane and other natural gas liquids used in petrochemical manufacturing.
Ethane is particularly important because it is a major feedstock for ethylene production, which is subsequently used to manufacture polyethylene and other plastic resins.
This creates a cost structure that can be highly competitive with regions where crackers depend more heavily on naphtha.
When natural gas remains relatively inexpensive compared with crude oil, U.S. producers can maintain a feedstock advantage.
The 2.7% year-over-year increase in July resin exports demonstrates that U.S. producers remain capable of competing in international markets despite challenging global demand conditions.
The ACC reported approximately 2.1 million metric tons of resin exports in July 2025, while production of major plastic resins reached an all-time monthly high of 9.2 billion pounds.
Production increased 10.3% compared with July 2024, although year-to-date production remained broadly flat compared with the previous year.
This combination of strong production capacity and resilient exports gives U.S. producers flexibility to serve both domestic customers and overseas markets.
One of the most important factors behind U.S. petrochemical competitiveness is the difference between ethane-based and naphtha-based production.
Many European and Asian producers rely significantly on naphtha, which is closely linked to crude oil prices.
U.S. producers have greater access to ethane derived from natural gas.
The simplified value chain is:
Natural gas → Ethane → Ethylene → Polyethylene → Plastic products
Compared with:
Crude oil → Naphtha → Ethylene → Polyethylene → Plastic products
When the price relationship between crude oil and natural gas favors natural gas, U.S. producers can achieve a meaningful variable-cost advantage.
Industry analysis has noted that the oil-to-natural-gas price ratio has remained favorable to U.S. petrochemical feedstock economics, supporting investment and strong resin exports.
The U.S. has built substantial petrochemical and polymer production capacity over the past decade.
This capacity expansion was supported by the shale-gas revolution, which increased the availability of low-cost natural gas liquids.
As a result, U.S. producers have become significant exporters of polyethylene and other resins.
For international buyers, this means North American material can remain competitive even after transportation costs are included, particularly when regional prices in Europe or Asia are elevated.
Strong U.S. resin exports should not be interpreted as evidence of uniformly strong global plastic demand.
The broader chemicals market continued to face weak manufacturing activity, excess capacity and uneven downstream consumption.
In some markets, particularly commodity plastics, producers are competing aggressively for market share.
This makes cost competitiveness increasingly important.
Lower-cost producers are better positioned to continue operating at competitive margins when global resin prices weaken.
The U.S. export trend has several implications for procurement teams.
Buyers sourcing polyethylene and other commodity resins should compare U.S. suppliers with producers in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
The U.S. feedstock advantage can make American-origin material competitive even when transportation costs are higher.
Procurement teams should monitor the relationship between:
Natural gas
Ethane
Ethylene
Polyethylene
Crude oil
Naphtha
Changes in these markets can provide useful signals about future resin pricing.
A low U.S. resin price does not automatically mean the lowest purchasing cost.
Buyers should calculate the complete landed cost, including:
Resin price + freight + insurance + duties + port charges + inland transportation
This is particularly important for buyers located outside North America.
Strong export demand can influence domestic producer inventories and regional pricing.
If international demand increases significantly, producers may allocate more material toward export markets, potentially affecting availability for domestic buyers.
Energy costs play a major role in determining which production regions are competitive.
A U.S. producer with access to inexpensive ethane may have a different cost structure from a European producer using naphtha.
This creates opportunities for international arbitrage.
For example, if European polyethylene prices rise significantly above U.S. export-equivalent prices, U.S. material can become attractive to European buyers even after freight and other logistics costs are included.
The reverse can also occur if freight costs rise sharply or regional price spreads narrow.
This is why procurement teams should monitor regional price spreads rather than individual market prices in isolation.
The U.S. feedstock advantage does not eliminate logistical challenges.
Exporting plastic resins requires access to ports, containers or bulk transportation, storage facilities and reliable shipping routes.
Freight disruptions can quickly reduce the competitiveness of U.S.-origin material.
Geopolitical tensions and disruptions in major maritime routes can therefore change the economics of resin sourcing even when the underlying U.S. production cost remains attractive.
The resilience of U.S. resin exports reflects a broader transformation in global petrochemical trade.
The United States has moved from being primarily a major chemical consumer to becoming an important global supplier of petrochemical products.
This has increased competition for producers in higher-cost regions.
European producers, in particular, face greater pressure when energy and feedstock costs remain structurally higher than in North America.
Meanwhile, rapid capacity expansion in Asia and the Middle East continues to create additional competition in commodity chemicals.
As a result, global resin markets are increasingly influenced by feedstock economics, regional production costs and trade flows.
The U.S. is likely to remain an important source of globally competitive plastic resins as long as its natural gas and NGL feedstock advantages remain intact.
However, export performance will continue to depend on global demand, new capacity, trade policies and freight economics.
The ACC's later data showed that U.S. resin exports remained resilient through the end of 2025, with December exports increasing 1.3% year over year, while full-year 2025 exports were 3.7% higher than 2024.
This suggests that the underlying export competitiveness was not limited to a single month.
The 2.7% year-over-year increase in U.S. plastic resin exports in July 2025 demonstrates the continuing competitiveness of American petrochemical production.
Abundant natural gas, competitive ethane and large-scale petrochemical capacity give U.S. producers a structural advantage that supports resin production and exports.
For chemical procurement teams, the key lesson is that energy and feedstock economics can directly shape global resin sourcing decisions.
Buyers should monitor U.S. ethane and natural gas prices alongside crude oil, naphtha, ethylene and regional resin benchmarks. Combining these indicators with freight and landed-cost analysis can help identify when U.S.-origin resin offers a genuine sourcing advantage.
As global plastic markets remain competitive, the U.S. energy advantage is likely to remain an important factor influencing resin prices, export flows and international procurement strategies.
Featured Product
Found this useful?
Continue Reading
Eastman's working-capital normalization signals improving supply-chain visibility, inventory balance and trade-flow predictability for global chemical procurement.
Lone Star Funds' acquisition of Lonza's capsules business highlights investor confidence in pharmaceutical supply-chain resilience
BASF's higher raw-material costs highlight ongoing energy, freight and geopolitical supply-chain pressures
