Global petrochemical markets have experienced unprecedented volatility in supply/demand and pricing over the past 18 months. There is increasing evidence that the global economic contraction is approaching its end. The petrochemical landscape is changing as a result of the recession, with a significant amount of capacity already rationalized and more likely. At the same time, the long awaited rise of the Middle East as a dominant producer of ethylene and derivatives has begun. In this paper we present our outlook for the end of the current recession and our view of the market over the next few years for the major synthetic latex feedstocks: ethylene, propylene, butadiene, styrene, and methanol.