Frank Esposito's effort to put a happy face on Harvey's aftermath discredited processors only trying to pass along raw material costs on a 1:1 basis. ("Rail, trucking issues are impacting markets," Sept. 18, Page 1.)
Buyers twice removed from the resin scene only saw "Remarkable recovery." They did not read the balance "very scary perfect storm" tucked away at the end. There is indeed no sense of urgency — yet. Force majeure letters are being ignored.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the consensus has evolved to simply look at CDI [Chemical Data index]. The 3 cents for August has been blithely accepted as the only increase for 2017. Except for the customers of processors who are not "resisting" the increases. It's more like they are fighting tooth and nail. Large-volume buyers of finished product are denying the existence of the August increase while large-volume processors are laying people off for lack of resin.
Increases are anathema in this Walmartized age. Nobody wants to get "Rubbermaided."
Joel Longstreth
Sam Longstreth
Brentwood Plastics Inc.