What price range are LDPE and HDPE currently trading at in Europe?

Spot LDPE film grade has recently traded around €920–1,050 per tonne in Western and Central Europe, with some multi-truckload deals reported below €1,000 amid destocking. Prime large-lot semi-virgin LDPE list prices sit higher, around €1,270–1,400 per tonne. HDPE across blow-moulding, film and injection grades has traded around €850–1,050 per tonne in Central Europe, with values above €1,000 largely limited to tighter-supply specialty grades.

What is driving the recent volatility in European PE feedstock and contract prices?

The European ethylene contract price rose 4.6% to €1,145 per tonne in March 2026, then jumped by €450 per tonne, or about 40%, to €1,595 per tonne in April. Middle East conflict escalation drove naphtha and crude costs sharply higher and pushed cracker margins negative in March. Spot ethylene benchmarks similarly spiked into May before easing by July as the geopolitical premium faded.

How does the price of virgin polyethylene compare with recycled polyethylene in the EU?

Scrap polyethylene averaged €330 per tonne across the EU in 2023 versus €1,444 per tonne for virgin polyethylene. Scrap prices have also historically been less volatile than virgin prices, which are more directly exposed to petrochemical feedstock swings.

How is the PPWR and rising recycled-content demand expected to affect PE pricing?

Minimum recycled-content thresholds under the PPWR are progressively increasing demand for certified recycled PE, particularly R-LDPE, regardless of the virgin-recycled price spread. This is expected to widen the gap between commodity-grade and compliance-grade recyclate pricing as implementation deepens.

What do official EU statistics show about plastics producer prices in the euro area?

Eurostat's producer price index for plastics in primary forms in the euro area, using 2021 as the base year, stood at 99.3 points in November 2025, down from 100.4 the prior month. The index reached a record high of 129.7 in June 2022 and a record low of 70.3 in May 2009. Eurostat's broader industrial producer price flash estimates show euro-area prices rising 0.7% month-on-month in January 2026 before falling 0.7% in February 2026.

Europe Polyethylene (PE) Pricing Tracker

Feedstock, Grade-Level Spot & Contract Prices, and Virgin-vs-Recycled Dynamics — 2025/2026