Iran War Ripples Are Driving Up Prices for Plastics Ingredient
A worker inspects polyethylene plastic products at a plastic factory in Klang, Malaysia.
Photographer: Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty ImagesUS producers of polyethylene — a common plastic used in everything from packaging to containers — are buying more of a key ingredient, ethylene, in a sign that manufacturers are working to take advantage of export opportunities as global supplies tighten.
The global plastics market has been thrown into upheaval as the war in Iran disrupts flows of oil and products used in production, squeezing global supplies but leaving American producers with a window to sell more overseas.