Consulting firms C-MACC and Plastic Experts International (PXI) are working together on a new resin pricing service.
The Polymer Price Expectations Service provides current pricing and outlooks for polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene resins as well as feedstocks ethylene, propylene, styrene, benzene and butadiene. Officials with C-MACC in Houston said the goal of the pricing service is to serve industry participants with an unbiased, fundamental-based view of polymer markets and net transaction prices.
They added that about three years ago, the firm was approached by a major polymer and chemical company and asked to consider starting a price discovery and reporting service and added that its due diligence with other companies further identified the need, spurring it to join forces with Robin Chesshier at PXI.
Chesshier founded Fort Worth, Texas-based PXI in late 2023 after a 17-year career with consulting firm Resin Technology Inc. C-MACC was launched in 2020 by financial and chemical market veterans Graham Copley and Cooley May.
The new report's primary objective is to assess and report on markets, not make those markets, officials explained.
"We set our views based on market fundamentals and discussions with buyers and sellers without taking a market position," the company said in a release. "This should eliminate the need for non-market price adjustments and provide relevant market information from market followers from all perspectives, including producers, processors and end-users."
Officials said the service is created "with the tight budgets and needs of market participants in mind."
Pricing indices are widely used throughout the plastics industry. In addition to Plastics News, other widely followed indices are published by Chemical Market Analytics (CMA) — formerly IHS — and Chemical Data Inc. (CDI).