UNION CITY, CALIF. — Emerald Packaging, a Union City, Calif.-based maker of plastic packaging, passed along an 8% price increase to its customers in April, including Taylor Farms and Dole, after the cost of polyethylene resin rose sharply. The price of polyethylene pellets has almost doubled since the United States and Israel launched the war with Iran.

At the start of April, the price of polyethylene resin was 30 cents per pound higher than it had been before the war. Oil tankers have been effectively barred for weeks from transiting the Strait of Hormuz, restricting access to the global market. In 2025, the Middle East accounted for around 42% of global exports of polyethylene, according to data from the polymer and chemical analysis firm ITP.

Emerald Packaging Chief Executive Kevin Kelly said the price of a pound of polyethylene was 45 cents in February, 95 cents in April, and could be as much as $1.10 in May. He said the April increase was the largest monthly rise in operating costs he had seen in his 30-year career. "I'm stunned at the position we're finding ourselves in," he said.

Kelly said his profit margins were not high enough to absorb the current cost increases and that he anticipated raising prices by another 15% to 20% almost immediately. He said the additional costs would move down the supply chain. "All these cost increases will get passed through because no company can absorb them and there's only one place for them to go," Kelly said. "The consumer will end up paying the price."

Polyethylene, a synthetic resin derived from petroleum and natural gas, is used to make plastic packaging for consumer staples including fresh produce, baked goods, household supplies and medical equipment. Gas prices have also risen since the start of the war, adding to expenses for U.S. consumers.

Six weeks into the war, it remained difficult to determine how much additional money grocery store shoppers may already be paying due to increased plastic packaging costs. Kelly said any relief on resin prices was unlikely before mid-summer. "April is baked in, May is baked in, June is probably baked in so that means the first relief you might see is in July or August," he said. "Maybe late summer, you might start to see some price relief."