Current Trending Topics in the News with Links to Articles:
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Toy industry prepares for price increases as tariffs hit imports
https://www.plasticsnews.com/news/toy-industry-prepares-price-increases-tariffs-hit-imports
President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imported goods from China and Mexico already are disrupting the toy industry even as the White House plans for reciprocal tariffs to be added starting in April.
Imports from China account for 77 percent of toys sold in the U.S. Customers can anticipate an increase in prices at retailers due to tariffs. Toy industry profit margins are within the single-digit to lower double-digit range, leaving manufacturers no choice but to raise prices.
“A 20 percent tariff, as we look at the industry and talking with manufacturers, is potentially going to be almost a one-for-one inflationary price increase in the price of toys to the percent of tariff,” said Greg Ahearn, president and CEO of the Toy Association.
Resin prices quiet in February; tariff changes could drive shifts
North American commodity resin markets were surprisingly quiet in February, with only two materials seeing price increases.
Regional prices for PP were up an average of 4 cents per pound for the month, while prices for PVC were up 2 cents. The lack of overall upward momentum surprised some market watchers, since early-year inventory building often gives resin makers a chance to raise prices.
PP prices were also up 5 cents in January. Prior to the January and February increases, prices had dropped a total of 16 cents in the last four months of 2024. Price changes for PP again followed movements in price for polymer-grade propylene feedstock. PP prices finished 2024 with a net price drop of 9 cents per pound.
PVC prices post small increase in March
https://www.plasticsnews.com/resin-pricing/pvc-resin-prices-post-small-increase-march
North American suspension PVC resin prices ticked up an average of 1 cent per pound in March, as buyers prepared for the upcoming construction season.
Prices had moved up 2 cents in February after being flat for the previous two months. A slow construction market — due in part to high interest rates — had a cooling effect on the PVC market for most of 2024.
For full-year 2024, regional PVC prices were down a net of 4 cents.
But the market appears to be bouncing back, as makers of pipe and other construction products build inventories in advance of the warmer weather that spurs construction activity.
Tupperware relaunching in five European countries
https://www.plasticsnews.com/news/tupperware-relaunches-five-european-countries
Tupperware containers will be back on the market in five European countries in April 2025, thanks to a deal led by a French entrepreneur.
The outlook for the highly indebted plastic household and kitchen container producer Tupperware Brands Corp. has at times appeared bleak, following the company filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2024. That announcement came with a decision to close its sole remaining U.S. production site in Hemingway, S.C., and to transfer production to Tupperware’s existing Lerma, Mexico, plant.
Last fall the Orlando, Fla.-based company reached an agreement with a group of secured lenders that saved the company from liquidation, although officials said its initial focus would be on global core markets including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, China, South Korea, India and Malaysia.
Transportation, rising costs challenge plastics recycling supply chain
https://www.plasticsnews.com/news/transportation-rising-costs-challenge-plastics-recycling-supply-chain
Transportation snags cause problems in the plastics recycling supply chain, and now high fuel prices and tariffs threaten to make the problem even more difficult.
“Now is really the time to be creative and find those creative solutions and ways that we can collaborate and work together to navigate in whatever the new path is going to be and figure out how we’re going to overcome those challenges,” Ashley Stinebaugh, general director of marketing and sales at Union Pacific Railroad, said.
Stinebaugh was part of a March 24 panel discussion at the Plastics Recycling Conference in National Harbor.
Mergers & Acquisition Tracker
Updated list of merger and acquisition deals within the plastics industry. Details include the buyer and the company or assets being purchased, along with a link to read more about each transaction.
- Recycling and Sustainability:
What’s next for plastics recycling in Europe (Video Interview)
https://www.plasticsnews.com/livestreams/whats-next-plastics-recycling-europe
PRSE, the largest plastics recycling show in the world, is coming up next week on April 1 and 2.
With the industry in turmoil, we wanted to create an opportunity to discuss some of the perspectives on plastics recycling ahead of the show.
Our guest speakers Fimic CEO Erica Canaia and Sintac Recycling CEO Vincente Olmos Jorge, both recipients of the prestigious Plastics Recycling Ambassadors award at last year’s PRSE, discussed the market dynamics affecting recyclers today. Recyclate quality, they argued, will make or break European recyclers. Quality control on imports, through trusted third-party certifications, will be key to level the playing field.
We also discussed how the newly enacted PPWR, potential policies to support recyclers, and looming tariffs, may change the current crisis landscape for companies operating in and outside of Europe.
Recycled PC prices rise slightly in 2025
https://www.plasticsnews.com/resin-pricing/recycled-polycarbonate-prices-rise-early-2025
North American recycled polycarbonate prices have increased slightly in the beginning of 2025.
According to sources in contact with Plastics News, clear industrial regrind is up 3 cents, mixed color industrial regrind increased by 1 cent and mixed color industrial pellets rose by 2 cents.
“The market has been really flat,” said a material company in West Virginia. “Until the last five years no one cared about sustainability. The recycled side of the products have increased and that’s why.”
Recycled PC prices had slightly decreased from the end of 2022 to the middle of 2023, and then posted another slight decrease in the beginning of 2024. Since then, the market had been steady until this current increase.
Sources expect the market to remain flat for the rest of the year.
APR seeks ‘level playing field’ on recycled plastics imports
https://www.plasticsnews.com/news/apr-seeks-work-us-trade-agencies-level-playing-field-recycled-plastics-imports
Amid rising imports of recycled plastics into the U.S., one domestic trade group wants to investigate whether those imports are hurting the domestic recycling industry.
The Association of Plastic Recyclers plans to study the impact of lower-priced imports, with an eye toward possibly seeking U.S. government help, APR President and CEO Steve Alexander said at a recent conference.
Upcoming Events:
Plastics Recycling World Magazine
March 2025 issue:
The March/April 2025 issue of the publication has not yet been released. We will include those leading articles in the April monitoring report.
Upcoming Events:
Plastics Recycling Technology
June 10 – 11, 2025.
Long Beach, CA
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Bioplastics
August 26-27, 2025
Cleveland, Ohio
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AMI Plastics World Expo
November 12-13, 2025
Cleveland, Ohio
Information and Registration: https://na.compoundingworldexpo.com/ami-plastics-world-expos-north-america-exhibitor-form?utm_source=FSE_mag&utm_medium=ami_mag&utm_campaign=25_PWE_NA&utm_id=exprom_exhibitor_dps
