Increase Fatigue Is Changing Buyer Outcomes — April 2026 Resin Market Moves

This week’s Resin Market Moves focuses on a dynamic that doesn’t show up in market reports, but is actively shaping outcomes in April: increase fatigue.With polyethylene, polypropylene, ABS, PVC, nylons, and PET all moving higher at the same time, buyers are being hit with a volume of increase letters that’s difficult to process — and in many cases, they’re disengaging at exactly the wrong moment.Michael Workman, CMO of ResinSmart, breaks down the current market setup across the major resin categories, explains why the cost floor is being reset upstream by crude and feedstocks, and outlines why the gap between nominated and realized price is still very much in play.He also shares a practical negotiation approach that top buyers use in cycles like this — and why the most important lever right now isn’t process or contract language, but the direct conversation with your supplier rep.If your current response to increase letters is to file them and move on, this episode is for you.Topics covered:Broad-based resin increases across PE, PP, ABS, PVC, PET, and nylonsCrude oil above $100 and the geopolitical premium in the marketPE nominations stacking into May and cumulative Q2 exposurePP PGP feedstock strength and tightening supply dynamicsABS spread signaling uncertainty in producer expectationsPVC turnarounds driving inventory drawdownsNylon feedstock spikes and downstream cost implicationsThe concept of “increase fatigue” and how it impacts buyer behaviorWhy nominations are not the final number — and where leverage still existsThe role of supplier relationships in determining realized price outcomesA simple call framework to improve negotiation results in real timeResinSmart is the buyer-side resin market intelligence platform built on 25+ years of real transaction data.Learn more at resinsmart.ai.Connect with Michael on LinkedIn.Subscribe to the Resin Market Moves newsletter.