More COVID-19 news relevant to the plastics industry:
Supply
Crude prices were down in mid-day trading today, with the WTI down 2.7% at $41.68/bbl and Brent down 2.4% at $43.78/bbl.
Offshore drilling giant Valaris, based in London, filed to reorganize in U.S. bankruptcy court.
Caution prevails among U.S. natural gas producers, despite a 60% increase in prices since late June.
Europe’s “Green Recovery” initiative is sparking growing interest in hydrogen, which contains three times the energy of gasoline with zero harmful emissions.
Improving demand and supply disruptions at several production facilities have made polypropylene especially tight in North America with producers requesting accurate forecasts and extended lead times.
Supply Chain
Two separate tropical depressions, one in the Atlantic and one in the Caribbean Sea, threaten to grow into hurricanes and strike the Gulf Coast next week.
Four-hundred-million square feet of new warehouse space may be needed to accommodate rising e-commerce sales and increases in inventories by companies adjusting their supply chains due to the pandemic.
Uber and Lyft will continue operating in California for at least a few more months after an appeals court issued a stay of an injunction that would have forced them to end ride-sharing services unless they convert drivers from contractors to employees. The companies are backing a ballot measure in the upcoming election that would provide contract drivers with additional protections but not deem them employees.
Pilotless cargo aircraft could be in commercial operation as early as 2022, enabled by technology from startup Xwing that retrofits existing aircraft for autonomous flight.
While dry van capacity is improving, the bulk trucking sector has worsened, with rising manufacturing activity and low inventories expanding regional tightness into a national capacity shortfall. Clients are advised to provide expanded lead times on orders to help ensure delivery dates will be met.
Freight pricing continues to rise due to capacity constraints and the higher cost of operations due to the pandemic.
Beyond the transportation challenges, our Gold Standard logistics partners and U.S. ports continue to operate without interruption.
Markets
New COVID-19 infections in the U.S. decreased yesterday to 44,023. Deaths remained above 1,000.
The federal deficit has risen a historic 25 percentage points this year to 106% of GDP, but inflation remains in check, defying traditional economic theory.
Apple became the first U.S. corporation to pass $2 trillion in market capitalization as the pandemic accelerates growth of the gig economy:
U.S. businesses have added $1.6 trillion in new debt to their balance sheets during the pandemic, raising corporate debt to record levels that could impair the economic recovery.
Nearly $10 billion worth of infrastructure projects has been canceled or postponed during the pandemic, with government fiscal woes likely to constrain future infrastructure spending.
While new mortgage delinquencies declined in July, delinquencies over 90 days jumped 20%.
Johnson & Johnson is recruiting 60,000 volunteers for the largest Phase 3 test of a vaccine yet, with testing set to begin in September.
While national airline traffic is still two-thirds below normal and improving only modestly this month, Southwest Airlines said it will continue curtailing flights and expects traffic in October to remain down by up to 50%, worse than its earlier estimates of a 30% decline.
American Airlines is suspending service to 15 cities and six additional airports.
With business air travel still moribund, United Airlines is straying outside its hub system and starting 17 point-to-point flights to Florida to serve winter tourists, borrowing a page from discount airlines.
Hawaii, among states hardest hit by the pandemic and desperate to restore its tourism industry, will experiment with “resort bubbles,” where visitors can enjoy a luxury resort experience without enduring the state’s mandated 14-day quarantine.
Despite the pandemic, the fragmented moving industry is booming, with urban dwellers relocating to suburbs and colleges reopening.
To ease the burden of working parents, some major companies are offering educational benefits, such as tutoring services, virtual field trips and search services for nannies and learning facilitators, as a new form of perk.
International
Latin America, suffering more than 3,000 COVID-19 deaths a day for the past week, saw total deaths top 250,000 yesterday.
Latin American countries make up four of the five countries with the fastest growing infection rates globally:
Europe’s economic recovery slowed in August, with the Purchasing Managers’ Index slipping to 51.6 from 54.9 in July.
The European Central Bank is concerned that a surge in unemployment will follow the expiration of stimulus programs and derail Europe’s fragile economic recovery.
The U.K.’s public debt exceeds 2 trillion pounds ($2.6 trillion) for the first time in history.
The European Union’s lead negotiator expressed pessimism that a Brexit deal can be negotiated before the U.K. leaves the Union at the end of the year.
Europe’s vacation season is being abruptly shut down as countries restore border restrictions in the face of a wave of new COVID-19 infections.
Our Operations
As a follow-up to this week’s Fireside Chat on the new North American trade agreement, our regulatory team shared key considerations on reporting requirements related to USMCA.
To access 3D Printing training, order parts and seek technical assistance, visit our new online resource.
Resource Center: M. Holland offers a host of resources to clients, prospects and suppliers. To arrange a videoconference or meeting, contact:
We and selected third-parties use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL third-party cookies. For more details about cookies and how we use them, read the full Data Privacy Policy.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. For more details about cookies and how we use them, read the full Data Privacy Policy.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement
1 year
Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category .
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional
11 months
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Cookie
Duration
Description
__cf_bm
30 minutes
This cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management.
bcookie
1 year
LinkedIn sets this cookie from LinkedIn share buttons and ad tags to recognize browser ID.
bscookie
1 year
LinkedIn sets this cookie to store performed actions on the website.
lang
session
LinkedIn sets this cookie to remember a user's language setting.
lidc
1 day
LinkedIn sets the lidc cookie to facilitate data center selection.
UserMatchHistory
1 month
LinkedIn sets this cookie for LinkedIn Ads ID syncing.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Cookie
Duration
Description
_ga
2 years
The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
_ga_S6SF7JZ2WY
2 years
This cookie is installed by Google Analytics.
_gat_UA-7828007-1
1 minute
A variation of the _gat cookie set by Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager to allow website owners to track visitor behaviour and measure site performance. The pattern element in the name contains the unique identity number of the account or website it relates to.
_gcl_au
3 months
Provided by Google Tag Manager to experiment advertisement efficiency of websites using their services.
_gid
1 day
Installed by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
CONSENT
2 years
YouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
vuid
2 years
Vimeo installs this cookie to collect tracking information by setting a unique ID to embed videos to the website.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Cookie
Duration
Description
_fbp
3 months
This cookie is set by Facebook to display advertisements when either on Facebook or on a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising, after visiting the website.
fr
3 months
Facebook sets this cookie to show relevant advertisements to users by tracking user behaviour across the web, on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin.
IDE
1 year 24 days
Google DoubleClick IDE cookies are used to store information about how the user uses the website to present them with relevant ads and according to the user profile.
personalization_id
2 years
Twitter sets this cookie to integrate and share features for social media and also store information about how the user uses the website, for tracking and targeting.
test_cookie
15 minutes
The test_cookie is set by doubleclick.net and is used to determine if the user's browser supports cookies.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
5 months 27 days
A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSC
session
YSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devices
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt-remote-device-id
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt.innertube::nextId
never
This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt.innertube::requests
never
This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.