MH Daily Bulletin: October 20

October 20, 2022 • Posted in Daily Bulletin

News relevant to the plastics industry:

At M. Holland

  • During M. Holland’s Plastics Reflections webinar last week, our panelists discussed the macroeconomic factors influencing global and domestic economies — including what it means for suppliers, distributors and manufacturers in the plastics industry. In case you missed it, click here to gain access to the full recording.
  • A recent Plastics News article focuses on M. Holland’s distribution of Purell medical-grade resins from LyondellBasell. Click here to read the article.

Supply

Releases Diminish Strategic Petroleum Reserve
  • The average U.S. gasoline price is down 30% from summer highs above $5 a gallon.
  • Baker Hughes kicked off earnings for oil field service companies with a quarterly loss, due largely to a $230 hit from a voluntary restructuring. The firm expects U.S. crude production to jump next year on easing supply-chain issues.
  • U.S. pipeline operator Kinder Morgan saw a 16.4% gain in quarterly profit on surging jet fuel volumes.
  • China’s LNG imports are expected to plummet 14% this year in what would be the steepest drop since it began importing the fuel in 2006.
  • Workers at several French refineries voted to end a month of strikes on Wednesday. A large share of the nation’s nuclear plants are still affected by strikes.
The Countries With the Most Nuclear Reactors

Supply Chain

Domestic Markets

United-states-housing-starts

International Markets

  • COVID-19 remains a global health emergency, the WHO says.
  • Shanghai will spend $191 million to build a 3,250-bed quarantine facility on a small island close to its city center. The Chinese government is also in talks to cut mandatory quarantine periods for incoming travelers.
  • Canada’s inflation hit 6.9% in September, slightly lower than August but still ahead of forecasts. Analysts say its central bank will almost certainly hike interest rates by another 75 basis points next week.
Canada-inflation-cpi
  • Europe’s central bank is widely expected to raise its benchmark interest rate by another 75 basis points when it meets next week.
  • Japan’s administration signaled it will stick to its loose monetary policy despite rising voter dissatisfaction and a crashing currency.
  • U.K.’s prime minister resigned less than two months after taking office, becoming the shortest-serving PM in the nation’s history.
  • The Bank of England will resume bond sales in two weeks, after its effort to shrink its balance sheet and temper inflation was interrupted when the government’s ill-fated announcement for unfunded tax cuts sent the British pound crashing.
  • Italy’s GDP is set to shrink 0.2% in the third quarter due to impacts from high energy prices and lower consumer spending.
  • Amazon is launching a home insurance portal in Britain and has signed up three big-name insurers as it pushes further into financial services across the globe.
  • The number of global firms disclosing environmental data rose 42% year over year in the third quarter.

Some sources linked are subscription services.

Stay informed with industry trends and insights.

Stay informed with industry trends and insights.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.