By John Keilman
Chemical maker Dow told customers Tuesday it plans to double a previously announced price hike in plastic resins as the Strait of Hormuz shutdown chokes off the supply of some raw materials.
Dow Chief Executive James Fitterling told an investor conference last week that the company would raise the North American price of polyethylene by 15 cents per pound in April after boosting it by 10 cents in March. But on Tuesday, Dow said the April price hike would now be 30 cents per pound.
Dow shares rose 6% Tuesday and are up 25% since the start of the war.
Polyethylene is used in shopping bags, plastic bottles and other goods. U.S. companies typically make it from natural gas, while companies elsewhere in the world use naphtha, a hydrocarbon derived from crude oil. A large portion of the world's naphtha supply has become inaccessible after the Iran war stopped tanker traffic in the Persian Gulf.
Dow did not respond to requests for comment. Frank Mitsch, chemicals-industry analyst at Fermium Research, said peer companies LyondellBasell and Exxon Mobil are imposing their own price hikes, which will have downstream effects. "The consumer packaged-goods companies are going to have to try to pass along the price increases," he said.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 24, 2026 19:23 ET (23:23 GMT)
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