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Economics Editor Bill Wood continues to monitor the U.S. economy for a potential "soft landing" scenario as inflation eases and the job market remains robust. But concerns linger, particularly in the manufacturing and residential construction sectors, which struggle due to high interest and mortgage rates. Also supply chain disruptions, geopolitical risks and election uncertainties pose potential challenges. 

October is starting off as a hot month for materials-related M&A. 

California Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks more on his lawsuit against ExxonMobil, calling chemical recycling a "public relations stunt." 

Polypropylene prices surprisingly rose over the summer. Frank Esposito speaks about the changes and why the price hike is different from the norm. 

Some resin plants that were temporarily shut down in advance of Hurricane Francine hitting the Gulf Coast last week are now restarting and getting back to normal. Resin sector analysts said any production outages from the storm could tighten PVC supplies and potentially result in higher prices.

A major revision in the Federal Reserve's employment data allowed room to breathe for the economy to switch out of "inflation control mode" and into more of an "economic growth" mode, according to PN Economics editor Bill Wood. Bill parses out the latest data and what it means for the plastics manufacturing sectors as we head into the 2024 election.

Prices for PVC and PET bottle resin both dropped in August, after two straight months of increases this summer. Frank Esposito cites slow housing demand for the PVC drop. He also explains the somewhat surprising drop in PET bottle resin prices, which followed price changes to raw materials. 

Toymaker Lego is on track to replace the fossil fuels used in making its ABS bricks with more expensive renewable and recycled plastic. CEO Neils Christiansen said Lego is on schedule for half of its resin to be certified as sustainable by 2026, up from 30 percent this year.

Will polyethylene and polypropylene prices continue to increase in August, or will sellers give back some of the gaIns they saw in July? In the August Polymer Points Live, Frank Esposito talked about what’s on the table for commodity resin buyers in August, including PE, PP, polystyrene, PVC and PET.