In the first week of January 2026, market participants gradually returned to activity after the long Christmas and New Year break. The period was marked by waiting for the first price offers and by analysis of the current market situation. At the beginning of the month, the ethylene contract price was announced at EUR 1080/t FD, which means a decrease of EUR 25/t compared with December. Despite this reduction, producers showed no willingness to lower polyethylene prices.
Initial market signals indicate that suppliers attempted to increase HDPE prices; however, in the course of further negotiations with customers it was possible to maintain the existing levels. In the LDPE segment, clear upward price pressure was recorded, and the market remains in the process of seeking a new equilibrium point. It is expected that real demand for polyethylene will not materialise until the second half of the month, when—as processors declare—their production activity begins to pick up.
PE market overview
- The first working days of 2026 in Poland were characterised by very low trading activity. Processors focused mainly on assessing their own inventories and gathering price information, and the number of transactions actually concluded was limited.
- LDPE attracted the greatest interest, due to its limited availability from European producers.
- At the end of December, MOL stated in a press release that it was continuing work related to the reconstruction of the oil complex on the Danube in Hungary following an earlier failure. The indicative completion date for the overhaul was given as Q3 2026. Although the scale of the impact of this situation on polymer production is not fully known, some traders received from the producer offers for selected PP homopolymer grades and limited LDPE volumes.
- Serbian company NIS, owner of polyethylene producer Hip-Petrohemija, obtained from the US government a postponement of the entry into force of sanctions until 23 January 2026. The condition is a change of the current Russian owner. Recently, MOL has also expressed interest in acquiring the company’s assets.
- On 8 January 2026, SABIC officially announced the sale of its European petrochemicals business to Munich-based investment firm AEQUITA. In the previous year, this company signed an agreement with LyondellBasell regarding the acquisition of four strategic plants in Europe. In practice, AEQUITA is consolidating various European production capacities, creating a new large-scale platform for polymer production.
