Market update as of April 15 2022. 
Prime virgin prices are from China’s major virgin polymer websites in Renminbi RMB. The exchange rate is 1 US dollar= Chinese Yen at 6.3715.
New York oil prices rose to 106.95 on Thursday before the Easter Friday on possible supply chain disruptions caused by the geopolitical situations with the Russia-Ukrainian war.
The widespread outbreak of Covid-19 in China has impacted most provinces and cities socially and economically. In Shanghai, the biggest city, 25 million residents remain locked inside their premises. No one can leave their residential compound, even to buy food. The measures are disrupting the global supply chains with further delays in shipments and a high freight cost. Most prime virgin materials continue to soften in prices amid lackluster demand. Earlier in the month, there was a report that Russian polyethylene cargoes were sold in the Vietnam market at competitive prices and propylene slips due to increased Chinese supply. These are why polyolefin prices remain unchanged despite the global energy price hikes.
Recycled material prices remain firm on the back of the scarcity of recyclable globally. Compared with a few years ago, fewer and fewer recycling plants are still in operation as they could not source enough feedstocks due to the decoupling of recycled material prices in Europe and the US. Recycled PET flake and pellets sell at over $2000 per ton, whereas Asian prices could only sell half of the prices. European baled HDPE milk bottles cost more than their Asian recycled natural pellet prices. The quantity exported to the Far East has dropped since China banned the waste plastic imports in 2018. Developed countries have been setting up the infrastructure for collection and recycling factories to process wastes for downstream customers domestically.
As for scrap plastic, more shipping lines have stopped accepting plastic waste shipments under HS code 3915. Shipments to Vietnam are hit hard as 3915 is the only HS code accepted by the authorities to import plastic scraps. The Russia-Ukraine war has impacted the recycling industry as booking for shipments is extremely difficult, and high freight costs. Scrap plastics are getting less in quantities and costs are more expensive due to competition from domestic markets. There is a trend that separated materials and easy processing materials are in shortage, and many plants can only process single resin recyclables. It will be more challenging for Asian recyclers to have enough scraps for their operations.