Resin Non-Market Adjustments: What Buyers Don’t Know Can Cost Them Dearly

In January 2025, a single "non-market adjustment" erased 25¢/lb from the posted polyethylene price overnight. But many buyers never saw their invoices change because their contracts, not the market, decided what they paid.

That's a non-market adjustment (NMA) in action. And if you've been buying resin for years without knowing about NMAs, you're not alone. Many buyers using index-based contracts don’t even notice when these adjustments happen, or how much they're costing them.

Think about it. In the example, a quarter per pound vanished from PE indexes. Some buyers captured millions in savings. Others kept paying the old rate, completely unaware. The only difference? Knowing what to look for.

Resin non-market adjustments represent one of the most expensive blind spots in resin procurement. They're price corrections that can swing your costs by 10, 20, even 30 cents per pound, yet they happen outside normal market forces. No supply disruption. No feedstock spike. Just a publisher deciding their numbers have drifted too far from reality.

Here's what you need to know about NMAs and, not coincidentally, precisely what we're covering today:

• What NMAs really are — and why they keep happening
• How they ripple through contracts and budgets
• Which buyers get burned vs. which ones benefit
• Exactly how to protect your margins

Because in resin procurement, what you don't know can get expensive. Quickly. Let’s get started.

How Resin Pricing Works (and Where It Falls Short)

We've covered the mechanics of resin price increases and taken a deep dive into how resin pricing indexes actually work. If you haven't read those yet, we recommend starting there for the full picture.

But here's the quick version: Resin prices are set by indexes like CDI and ICIS that survey market participants, publishing benchmarks weekly or monthly. Most contracts use these indexes as their foundation, structured as "index plus" or "index minus" a fixed margin.

The system works well enough during stable markets. Suppliers and buyers avoid constant price negotiations. Finance teams can forecast costs. Everyone points to the same reference point.

But indexes have a fatal flaw: they drift from reality. And that starts with voluntary reporting that favors suppliers. Add publication schedules that lag actual markets by weeks. Mix in transaction prices that never see daylight. Month after month, the gap widens between what indexes say and what buyers actually pay.

Which brings us to non-market adjustments. Publishers use NMAs to protect credibility when the gap becomes too obvious. And, as we said, many buyers don’t know these adjustments exist until they’ve already lost margin, and sometimes not even then.

Let's dig into what these adjustments really are.

What Are Non-Market Adjustments?

Non-market adjustments (NMAs) are price corrections that index publishers make to realign their posted prices with actual market transactions. They're called "non-market" because these changes happen outside normal supply and demand forces—no feedstock spikes, no plant outages, no demand surges.

Yet NMAs are the industry's worst-kept secret. These corrections can move prices by double-digit cents overnight, the end result of a slow and steady drift. Over months and years, the gap widens between what indexes show and what buyers actually pay. Suppliers report their asking prices on the high side. Real transaction discounts never make it into the data. Meanwhile, the published numbers inch further from reality until publishers can't ignore the gap anymore.

When they finally act, the corrections are massive. Downward adjustments of 10, 20, 30 cents per pound are common. And while NMAs can technically go up or down, they almost always slash prices. That tells you something about which direction indexes tend to drift.

The timing isn't random, either. Publishers often "clean house" in January, resetting their indexes for the new year. Look at the pattern:

• January 2021: PE dropped 30¢/lb, PVC fell 15¢/lb
• February 2023: PE down 22¢/lb
• January 2025: PE slashed 25¢/lb

Let's make this a bit more real. Say you're purchasing 10 million pounds of HDPE annually. When that 25¢ NMA hits, you're looking at a $2.5 million impact on your costs.

But whether you see any of that savings depends entirely on eight words buried in your contract: "Non-market adjustments shall be excluded from pricing calculations."

Seems like an awfully big price to pay over eight little words, right? That leads us to the bigger picture problem looming over all of this—market opacity.

Why NMAs Matter to Buyers—And Reveal Bigger Transparency Problems

NMAs aren't just technical corrections. They're symptoms of a fundamentally opaque pricing system that systematically disadvantages buyers at every level of resin procurement.

The Immediate Contract Impact

Start with the most basic question: When an NMA hits, do you actually save money? The answer depends entirely on contract language that many buyers have never even checked. While some contracts pass NMAs straight through, others explicitly exclude them. That 25¢ drop in January? It might save you millions. Or it might save you nothing.

But even when NMAs technically apply, capturing those savings is another story. Without line-item transparency on invoices, that adjustment can vanish into the pricing black box. You'd never know you missed it.

But the real money flows out through supplier countermeasures. Here's one of the most common tricks-of-the-trade:

• Your contract reads "CDI minus 3¢"
• CDI drops 25¢ via NMA
• Supplier calls to "renegotiate terms"
• New contract: "CDI plus 2¢"
• You pay the same price despite a 25¢ index drop

Just like that, millions in savings evaporate. All perfectly legal. All while the index shows prices falling.

The Systemic Transparency Problem

Further, indexes rely on voluntary reporting, not hard transaction data. Suppliers share what they want to share. Real deals stay hidden. Large buyers negotiate "unofficial adjustments" constantly — discounts that never show up in any index. All the while, smaller buyers might not even know these side deals exist.

Making matters worse, the major indexes rarely agree. CDI says one price. ICIS shows another. IHS lands somewhere else. Suppliers cherry-pick whichever index works in their favor while buyers struggle to know what's real.

Then there's the lag adding salt to the pricing wound. You're making today's decisions based on last month's index data. By the time that monthly report publishes, spot markets might have moved 10 cents. In essence, you're driving by, looking in the rearview mirror while suppliers watch the road ahead.

Financial and Operational Impact

To make matters even worse, the ripple effects of NMAs reverberate across entire organizations. Finance books accruals based on published indexes. Procurement pays actual prices. And when those numbers don't match (and they never do after an NMA), you get massive P&L surprises that nobody can explain.

And the damage only intensifies if you've tied your own pricing to resin indexes. Say your plastic components are priced at "2x resin index" to your customers. When an NMA drops the index 25¢, your revenue immediately falls. But if your supplier blocked the adjustment or clawed it back, your costs stay high while your revenue tanks.

That's the hidden cost of opacity. What you don't know doesn't just hurt. It compounds.

Red Flags You're Losing Money to Hidden Adjustments

Think you might be missing NMA savings? Here are some classic red flags to look out for:

• The index shows a major price drop but your invoices barely budge. The published index falls 20¢ but your price drops maybe 2¢, if at all. That gap should trigger immediate questions.
• A supplier suddenly wants to "revisit contract terms" in January. Right after NMAs typically hit. They're not being helpful—they're protecting margins.
• You hear about "unofficial discounts" but never see them itemized. Other buyers mention adjustments and credits you've never heard of. Those whispers are real money you're not getting.
• Finance keeps asking why resin costs don't match published indexes. Your accruals assume index prices but your invoices tell a different story. That variance is missed savings, not an accounting error.

Do any of these look familiar? You're probably leaving money on the table. The good news is you can fix it.

How Resin Buyers Can Protect Themselves

As a buyer, you thankfully don't need an army of analysts or a law degree for a fair shake. But you do need better data than a monthly index report.

Remember, while you're waiting for next month's index, suppliers are watching real-time market movements. They see trends forming, spot gaps widening, and know exactly when NMAs are coming. They position themselves accordingly. You? You're navigating with month-old data and Excel spreadsheets. No wonder NMAs catch buyers flat-footed.

But you can level this playing field. First, there are immediate fixes you can implement today, contract changes and transparency requirements that stop the bleeding fast. Then there are strategic shifts that build long-term protection through better data and smarter systems.

Both matter, of course. But if you're currently exposed to NMAs, our advice is to start with the quick wins.

Immediate Actions

• Audit your contracts NOW. Pull every resin contract and search for "non-market adjustments" or "NMAs." You might be surprised what you find (or don't find). No mention at all? That usually means you're exposed.
• Add protective language. Next time you negotiate, include a clause similar to this: "CDI non-market adjustments will be disregarded for all pricing calculations." Simple. Clear. And it could save you millions.
• Demand transparency. Require NMAs to be shown as separate line items on every invoice. If suppliers resist, ask why. Hidden adjustments only benefit one party, and it's not you.
• Get retroactive credits. If your contracts don't exclude NMAs, at least ensure automatic credits when downward adjustments hit. Don't rely on suppliers to volunteer this money. They won't.

Strategic Improvements

• Track spot vs. index gaps. When spot prices diverge significantly from published indexes, NMAs often follow. That growing gap is your early warning system. Use it.
• Diversify pricing mechanisms. Don't put all your eggs in the index basket. Mix index-linked contracts with fixed-price agreements and spot purchases. When NMAs hit, you'll be glad you spread the risk.
• Upgrade your data game. Monthly indexes can't compete with daily market signals. You need real-time pricing data, predictive analytics, and early warning systems that flag when indexes drift from reality. The right intelligence platform pays for itself with the first NMA you catch early.
• Benchmark constantly. Know what others are actually paying, not just what indexes claim. Those corridor conversations about "better deals"? Time to systematically track what the market really looks like.

The bottom line: NMAs thrive on buyer ignorance. Knowledge, backed by timely data and powerful analytics, breaks that power.

How ResinSmart Helps Buyers Stay Ahead

Now you’ve seen the problem and all of its tentacles. NMAs cost buyers millions while suppliers protect their margins. The solution requires the same real-time data and analytics that suppliers already use.

That's where ResinSmart comes in.

We track the warning signs that indexes are drifting from reality. When spot prices pull away from published benchmarks, when unusual trading patterns emerge, when the gap between reported and actual prices widens — our platform catches it. You see the NMA coming weeks before it hits, not months after you've missed the savings.

But early warnings are just the start. ResinSmart can transform how you navigate resin markets:

See what's really happening

• Actual transaction benchmarks, not just published indexes
• Real-time spot-to-index gap tracking
• Supplier pricing patterns across your industry

Get protected before problems hit

• Contract language that blocks NMA games
• Negotiation strategies backed by real market data
• Alerts when indexes start drifting from reality

Capture every dollar when NMAs drop

• Instant notifications when adjustments are announced
• Clear calculations showing impact on your specific contracts
• Data to challenge suppliers who "forget" to pass along savings

This isn’t data for data’s sake. It's turning information asymmetry on its head. It’s strategic. Suppliers have operated with superior market intelligence for decades. ResinSmart gives you the same advantage, just in a platform you can actually use.

Want to See What Transparency Does for Your Bottom Line?

Non-market adjustments are just one way resin buyers lose money in opaque markets. But they're also the perfect example of why transparency matters, and why the right data changes everything.

If you're tired of finding out about market shifts after they've already cost you money, it's time for a different approach.

See how ResinSmart turns hidden adjustments into captured savings. Request a demo today.