COVID-19 Bulletin: September 4

Good Afternoon,

Supply

Crude prices were modestly higher in early trading today, with the WTI at $41.67/bbl and Brent at $44.3/bbl. 
Mexico will likely cut its production goal for state-owned Pemex in the upcoming budget as oil revenues this year are running at 56% of the 2020 goal due to low prices and production shortfalls.
Colorado natural gas driller Ursa Resources filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Supply Chain

Polypropylene and polyethylene supplies are extremely tight in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura.
Major truckers are seeing rising tonnage and spot prices as factories and retailers replenish inventories in anticipation of continued economic recovery.   
A dangerous heat wave is expected to grip the Western U.S. over the Labor Day weekend. 
We anticipate the Labor Day holiday will cause roadway congestion this weekend and early next week, impacting trucking capacity, pricing and performance. 
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance has scheduled its (USA/CAN/MEX) Roadcheck for Sept. 9th through the 11th – we expect this to reduce capacity and service levels for the week.
Clients are advised to provide expanded lead times on orders to help ensure delivery dates will be met.

Markets

The U.S. recorded 36,506 new COVID-19 infections and 1,070 deaths yesterday. 
The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation raised its projection for U.S. COVID-19 deaths to more than 410,000 by January, more than double the nearly 190,000 deaths so far, with the daily death toll reaching 3,000 in December. 
Twenty-four states are experiencing rising trends for new COVID-19 cases this week. 
The nation’s top infectious disease doctor warned that the Labor Day holiday could spark an increase in COVID-19 infections, with particular concern for 7 Midwestern states — North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana, Illinois. 
Ohio commenced wastewater monitoring in 22 cities, an emerging method for early detection of COVID-19 outbreaks.   
Nearly 1.4 million jobs were added in August, lowering the unemployment rate to 8.4%. 
Law and medical school grads are facing career delays with the postponement of licensing exams due to the pandemic. 
The federal deficit soared to a twelve-year monthly high in July on a surge in imports and a more modest gain in exports. 
Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings slowed in August but remained 17% higher than in August 2019. 
Global investment banks are experiencing an unexpected pandemic windfall, with revenues up more than 30% on investment banking fees from cash-hungry clients and trading revenue in the soaring stock market. 
Despite a 20% drop in car sales, the average price of a new car rose to a record $35,420 in August due to tight inventories and shoppers gravitating to higher value vehicles. 
Hotel bookings are down 65% for the upcoming Labor Day week compared with 2019, with only 14% of rooms booked for Labor Day itself. 
American Airlines cut 83,000 flights from its October domestic schedule, a 55% decrease from the prior year. 
Bricks and mortar retailing is suffering a crushing blow from the pandemic…

Campbell Soup sees sales of packaged foods easing as some consumers return to restaurants and others encounter budget constraints. 
A third of Big Ten athletes who have tested positive for COVID-19 suffer from myocarditis, a heart complication that can mimic the symptoms of a heart attack and lead to death. 

International

A Pew Research study finds increasing economic pessimism across the globe as the pandemic continues to spread, with two-thirds of adults surveyed saying conditions are bad. 
The pandemic is ravaging the economies of the world’s largest developing nations, causing contractions rivaling the Great Depression. 
Front-line healthcare workers have been hard hit by COVID-19:

As many as a quarter of Latin American university students are expected to drop out due to financial challenges, shattering the dreams of many who were the first in their families to attend college. 
Total infections in Brazil topped 4 million yesterday, a doubling in just two months.
India recorded more than 83,000 new cases, bringing total infections in the country to nearly 4 million as it closes on Brazil for the second highest case count globally.
New infections in Indonesia, the current epicenter for COVID-19, exceeded 3,600 yesterday, a record high, two weeks after many Indonesians traveled for their independence day holiday. 
Mexico auto exports were down 13.1% year over year in August and down a third through the first eight months of 2019. 
Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this week.

Our Operations

We will be closed next Monday for the Labor Day holiday.
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:
• Automotive: Market Manager Matt Zessin.
• Color & Compounding: Market Manager Scott Arnold.
• Electrical & Electronics: Market Manager Carlos Aponte.
• Flexible Packaging: Senior Technical Development Engineer Todd Stevens.
• Healthcare: Global Healthcare Manager Josh Blackmore.
• Rotational Molding: Product Manager Pete Nutley.
• Wire & Cable: Director Todd Waddle.
• 3D Printing: Market Manager Haleyanne Freedman.
• Sustainability: Market Manager Lindy Holland.
• For Regulatory advice, contact Regulatory Specialist Christopher Thelen.
• For Technical questions, contact Paul Lorigan, Manager of the M. Holland Technical Innovation Center.
M. Holland’s official status statement is available here.

Thank you,