During M. Holland’s recent Plastics Reflections webinar, 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
Oil fell 0.5% Monday on news of lackluster demand from China in September.
In mid-morning trading today, WTI futures were up 1.5% at $85.82/bbl, Brent was up 1.0% at $94.19/bbl, and U.S. natural gas was up 3.2% at $5.36/MMBtu.
The average U.S. gasoline price fell 10 cents last week to $3.79 a gallon.
Natural gas prices in the U.S. Permian Basin are edging toward zero as booming production overwhelms pipeline networks, creating a regional glut.
U.S. pipeline operator Kinder Morgan posted a 16.4% rise in quarterly profit on higher transport margins across all its fuels.
Schlumberger, the world’s primary oilfield services provider, is rebranding itself as “SLB” with an eye toward its lower-carbon future, executives said.
On Monday, European natural gas dipped 13% to below 100 euros per MWh for the first time since June amid unusually warm weather and strong fuel reserves.
Russia’s seaborne crude shipments fell to a five-week low on early impacts from looming European sanctions.
Germany may start subsidizing natural gas for homes and businesses as soon as January, months earlier than the start date recommended by government advisers.
A recent study concludes that the carbon footprint for advanced recycling of hard-to-recycle plastics is lower than competing end-of-use processes, as well as production from virgin materials.
Supply Chain
A labor deal between 22,000 U.S. West Coast dockworkers and their employers may take several more months, although service disruptions in the meantime are unlikely, port officials say.
Inbound containers waited for transport an average of 4.25 days at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in September, the shortest dwell time since May 2021.
Charter rates for very large crude carriers have surged to their highest level in two years as Chinese refineries boost crude buying.
UPS will raise rates another 6.9% on average in December, and FedEx will boost prices the same amount in January, as package carriers continue to pass along price increases even as demand softens and shipping costs decline across all modes except parcel transport.
UPS saw healthy profits on a year over year revenue-per-unit rise of almost 10% in the third quarter, even as demand weakened in the broader e-commerce market.
China’s COVID-19 policies are quickening its declining share of global exports:
In the latest news from the auto industry:
Higher prices contributed to a 56% year over year jump in revenue and a 49% increase in adjusted earnings for General Motors in the third quarter, boosting the company’s stock price in premarket trading.
The world’s top automakers have nearly $1.2 trillion of electric vehicle projects in the pipeline by 2030.
Toyota, slow to follow major competitors toward electrification, is halting some electric vehicle projects as it executes a strategy revamp to become more competitive with Tesla and other automakers.
Hyundai raised its full-year forecast but slashed its sales target by 7% due to supply chain issues and impacts from new U.S. limits on tax incentives for foreign-made electric vehicles (EVs). The automaker will break ground today on a $5.54 billion EV plant near Savannah, Georgia.
Chinese electric vehicle battery giant CATL is slowing its North American expansion on fears that new U.S. export curbs to China will drive up costs.
Amazon will spend over 1 billion euros to double the size of its electric van fleet in Europe over the next five years.
Mexican officials are meeting with the U.S. climate envoy to discuss lithium, batteries and the auto industry this week.
European Lithium, one of the continent’s only sources of the key battery metal, will list its shares in the U.S. in a $970 million initial public offering.
S&P Global’s composite U.S. purchasing managers’ index fell from 49.5 to 47.3 in October, the fourth month in contraction territory led by a sharp slowdown in services activity:
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