Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
August 12, 2015 02:00 AM

Resin sales climb for first half of 2015

Frank Esposito
Senior Staff Reporter
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    Commodity resins rang up solid sales growth in the U.S. and Canada in the first half of 2015.

    At resin distributor Osterman & Co. Inc. of Cheshire, Conn., President John Dwyer said that growth at the firm's customers “has tracked with or outperformed” the ACC numbers so far in 2015.

    “The second quarter [of 2015] was better for the U.S. economy overall and for plastics as well,” he added. “We were surprised to see negative [U.S. economic] numbers in the first quarter. It felt like 4 percent growth for us.

    “And it was more than just customers restocking,” Dwyer said. “A lot of them had projects in the pipeline.”

    Sales of high density polyethylene, linear low density PE and polypropylene led the way in the first half, each with growth of more than 6 percent vs. the first half of 2014, according to the American Chemistry Council in Washington.

    HDPE sales grew 7.1 percent to 9.4 billion pounds, with LLDPE up 6.1 percent to 7.3 billion pounds and PP increasing 6.3 percent to 8.6 billion pounds. The HDPE and LLDPE totals are for the U.S. and Canada, while the PP number also includes Mexico.

    Regional sales of low density PE edged up 1.5 percent to 3.5 billion pounds, while sales of solid polystyrene and PVC eked out small gains. Solid PS sales were up 0.4 percent to 2.24 billion pounds, as PVC sales grew 0.1 percent to 7.3 billion pounds.

    Domestic market sales of PP and LLDPE each grew 6 to 7 percent in the first half. Sales of HDPE and LDPE were up 3 to 4 percent domestically for the six-month period, while domestic sales of PVC were flat.

    In the export market, sales of HDPE soared 29 percent, while LLDPE sales were up 3 percent and PVC sales ticked up 0.3 percent. Sales of PP and LDPE didn't fare as well in the export field, with each falling 5-6 percent for the half.

    Resin makers sold more HDPE, LDPE, PP and solid PS to third-party distributors in the first half vs. the year-ago period. Distributors bought 36 percent more HDPE for the half, and 3 to 15 percent more each of LDPE, solid PS and PP. The solid PS total includes sales to resellers. LLDPE sales to distributors lagged the field, falling 13 percent.

    Resellers also bought more HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE and PP in the first half, with HDPE leading the way with a 36 percent gain. Sales of LDPE, LLDPE and PP to distributors jumped 3 to 11 percent. PVC was the only area without reseller sales growth, as it reported flat sales.

    North American resin distribution leader Nexeo Solutions has seen similar first-half growth patterns, commercial vice president Vaughn Deasy said. PE sales growth at Nexeo “has slightly exceeded industry growth, largely as a result of increased focus on selling volume polymers,” he explained. “Our polypropylene growth has been more restricted.”

    Nexeo — based in The Woodlands, Texas — ranks as the largest distributor of PP in the U.S. Deasy added that all PP suppliers in the region remain sold out and on some form of sales control, and many suppliers of that material have battled production problems so far in 2015.

    Among individual markets, Deasy said that Nexeo's dedicated efforts to focus on health care and automotive “continue to pay dividends, with those segments delivering above average growth.” He added that the firm's expansion into Mexico with substantially expanded resources “is positioning Nexeo well, with excellent growth associated with migration of manufacturing south of the border.”

    Resin distributor Osterman & Co. is looking for growth in Mexico, too. Osterman recently formed a joint venture with Mexican PE distributor Industrial Mafra SA de CV. The JV will operate as Osterman Plastics de Mexico S de RL and is expected to help both firms grow their presence in the Mexican market.

    The formation of the JV is Osterman's third move into Latin America in the last six years. In 2009, the firm founded its Latin American Polymers unit, followed by its 2013 purchase of resin distributor Quimtec LP of San Jose, Costa Rica.

    In addition to Nexeo's Mexican efforts, the Osterman-Industrial Mafra JV is the second Mexican transaction made this year by a U.S.-based resin distributor. In May, M. Holland Co. of Northbrook, Ill., formed a partnership with Mexican distributor Grupo Solquim SA de CV.

    Top growth end markets for HDPE in the first half included retail bags (up 4.6 percent) and household chemical bottles (up 5 percent). Regional LDPE market growth was led by sales into non-food packaging film, which were up 8.4 percent.

    For LLDPE, sales into food packaging film were up 7 percent, and sales into trash and can liners were up 13.2 percent. Top growth sectors for PP in the first half were injection molded housewares (up 18.7 percent), injection molded cups and containers (up 16 percent) and thermoformed packaging sheet (up 17 percent).

    The fastest-growing first-half end market for solid PS was food packaging/food service, where sales grew 3.1 percent, For PVC, first-half sales into siding and related uses led the way with growth of 10.1 percent.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Patio doors get a boost with new production, designs
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Plan to extend chemical recycling in Illinois hits roadblock
    2
    Biden sets US goal to replace 90% of plastics with biomaterials
    3
    Redline's ‘outrageous cultural behaviors' retain top employees
    4
    Industry sees Biden bioplastics goal as serious signal
    5
    Trinseo: Equipment failure blamed for latex emulsion leak
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified