Guest “I couldn’t invent this type of slate if I tried” by David Middleton
Texas Freeze triggers global plastic shortage
Numerous chemical plants closed last month as the state lost electricity and disrupted a global supply chain for consumer goods
By Christopher M. Matthews, Austen Hufford, and Collin Eaton
Updated March 17, 2021 at 9:28 a.m. ET
The February freeze that resulted in mass outages in Texas resulted in chemical plant shutdowns that disrupted global supply chains and resulted in a shortage of raw materials needed for everything from medical face shields to smartphones.
The blackouts brought the world’s largest petrochemical complex to a standstill, forcing more facilities in the Gulf of Mexico region to shutdown in 2017 than it did during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. A month later, many remain offline, and analysts said it could be months more full back.
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Wall Street Journal
Who would have thought that we would need fossil fuels to make “everything from medical face shields to smartphones”?
Weekly Harz Report: Delivery bottlenecks and rising prices are upsetting processors
Prices continued to rise, sometimes twice a day, and by the end of the week average spot prices for polyethylene had reached $ 0.10 / lb while polypropylene had skyrocketed another $ 0.12 / lb.
PlasticsToday Staff | March 02, 2021
The wild ride on the Harz market got even hairier last week. The supply bottlenecks worsened, prices rose, and processors flocked to the spot market to take advantage of any reasonable offer. After these disappeared, they also grabbed the offers at unreasonable prices. Unsurprisingly, market prices continued to rise, sometimes twice a day, and by the close of business on Feb.26, average spot prices for polyethylene (PE) had risen to $ 0.10 / lb while polypropylene (PP) had risen another $ 0 The PlasticsExchange reports in its Market Update. Although some processors failed and were unwilling to hunt material in this seemingly ever-growing market, a steady stream of demand continued along with sometimes sharp spikes. Some buyers have become more liberal with requirements as crises require creativity – many have expanded their typical technical specifications and packaging requirements to include available material until better market conditions eventually return.
Resin production meets a perfect storm.
It’s been two weeks since a massive winter storm hit the Houston area, shutting off power and shutting down the entire petrochemical producing region, including about 80 to 85% of U.S. PE and PP production. According to PlasticsExchange, resin supplies have already been hit by a number of other disruptions that have plagued the industry for the past six months, leaving the market unable for another wallop.
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Read the full market update on the PlasticsExchange website.
PlasticsToday
That’s just hilarious …
CAREER NEWS MARCH 09, 2021
“Does anyone have any of these?”: In the global pandemic, there are bottlenecks in the supply of laboratories
Scientific laboratories around the world are struggling to find enough sterile gloves and other basics as supply and manufacturing chains collapse.
Chris Woolston
Scientists around the world are making efforts in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is increasing the demand for test materials while disrupting production and sales channels to ensure basic supplies.
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nature
The fools (nature) most desperate to kill fossil fuels are now in full panic due to the plastics crisis.
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