Insight Focus
Brazil’s plastic resin imports rose in 2025. Volumes reached approximately 3.3 million tonnes, marginally above 2024 levels, despite anti-dumping measures on products from the US and Canada. Meanwhile, domestic capacity utilisation remained low, pressured by structural challenges and the competitiveness of imported raw materials.
Brazil ended 2025 with record imports of plastic resins. Foreign purchases of polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, and PVC reached 3.32 million tonnes, an increase of approximately 0.91% compared to the previous year, according to Comex.
The increase may seem modest, but these rises are impressive given the anti-dumping measures adopted by the Brazilian government last year.
Source: Comex
In May, the government raised the import tax on PVC produced in the US from 8.2% to 43.7%, fulfilling a demand from the domestic industry. A few months later, in August, an anti-dumping measure on North American polyethylene resins was approved, which became subject to an additional tax of USD 199.04/tonne for the US product and USD 238.49/tonne for the material imported from Canada.
Plastic polymer pallets
Previously, in 2024, the government had already increased import taxes on polymers from 12.6% to 20%.
Even so, resin imports, such as PVC and polyethylene, continued to grow. With few manufacturers and structural issues ranging from the cost of raw materials to deficient logistics, domestic producers have been unable to meet demand.
Source: Comex
“The average utilisation rate of the industrial park has been around 64% — a low level,” says Eder da Silva, manager of Economic and Foreign Trade Affairs at the Brazilian Chemical Industry Association (Abiquim), in an interview with the CZ app.
Eder da Silva, Photo Courtesy of Abiquim
Are Brazilian resin producers still expressing concern about potential dumping practices, in which international manufacturers charge below-market prices?
Yes. The Brazilian chemical industry occupies a central position in the economy: it is the sixth largest in the world in terms of revenue, accounts for approximately 11% of industrial GDP, and is present in approximately 96% of the production chains of the manufacturing industry.
Despite this strategic relevance, the sector faced significant pressures in 2025 stemming from asymmetrical global competition, high raw material costs—especially energy and natural gas—and the redirection of international production surpluses to the Brazilian market.
Concerns focus on practices associated with predatory pricing, indirect subsidies, and energy and regulatory asymmetries. In 2025, imports of chemical products reached USD 72.4 billion (including chemical fertilizers and pharmaceuticals), a 13% increase compared to 2024, resulting in a trade deficit of USD 56.8 billion.
Source: Comex
The average capacity utilisation rate in the industry remained at 64%, one of the lowest levels since 1990.
Source: Abiquim
How are domestic manufacturers of biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) films coordinating a potential anti-dumping investigation against Chinese products, given allegations that these products have been arriving at prices below market value?
Abiquim encourages all links in the production chain to carefully evaluate import flows, focusing on identifying and combating unfair, predatory, and irregular trade practices.
Amid a true reconfiguration of the geopolitics of industrial production, Brazil has become a destination for global production surpluses, especially from Asia, the US and the Middle East, where there are mega-installed capacities and a slowdown in international demand.
Source: Comex
This movement puts pressure on margins, reduces utilisation of domestic installed capacity, and jeopardises investment decisions in the chemical and processing sectors.
Did US polyethylene (PE) imports in 2025, even with the anti-dumping measure in effect, fall less than expected? What is the trend for 2026?
Official data indicate a slowdown in the growth rate of imports after the measures were adopted in August. However, the behaviour of volumes depends on structural variables, including energy cost differentials, exchange rates, global supply and demand dynamics, as well as the redirection of surpluses.
Source: Comex
By 2026, the expectation is for greater competitive balance, especially with the combination of trade defence instruments and structural measures aimed at domestic competitiveness.
How will Law 15.294, approved in 2025, increase competitiveness by providing incentives for the chemical industry?
The Special Program for Sustainability of the Chemical Industry (PRESIQ), established by law, provides BRL 3 billion (USD 580 million) in incentives annually for five years starting in 2027 and has the potential to add BRL 112 billion (USD 21.66 billion) to GDP through the reactivation of plants and strengthening of the industrial production chain.
To avoid a regulatory gap in 2026, Complementary Bill No. 14/2026 was approved by the Chamber of Deputies and awaits consideration by the Senate. (Note: The law temporarily reduces tax rates for the purchase of strategic inputs for the chemical and petrochemical industry until the new tax regime, scheduled for 2027, comes into effect).
The initiative was structured to be compatible with current tax rules, ensuring predictability and stability during the tax transition period until 2027.
