North American compounders made it through the rain of Harvey

It wasn't easy, but most North American compounders and concentrate makers made it through Hurricane Harvey in pretty good shape.

The storm hit the Texas coast in late August, disrupting resin production and supply chains throughout the area, which is a major petrochemical center. Almost every type of business that used plastic resin found itself scrambling to find enough material.

A. Schulman Inc. of Fairlawn, Ohio, had to temporarily close its plants in LaPorte and China, Texas, because of the storm, according to Frank Roederer, who serves as senior vice president and general manager of engineered composites. The plants received only minor damage and no structural damage, and they were able to reopen within two weeks, he said.

"The plants were in good shape, but we couldn't access material and not all of our employees could make it to the plants," Roederer explained. He added that the firm's other plants throughout North America "did pretty well."

Schulman also was able to move production from its Texas-area plants to plants in Akron, Ohio, and elsewhere. "We have a large footprint, and we saw [the storm] coming," Roederer said. "Those problems are behind us now."

RTP Co.'s plant in Orange, Texas, was in an area affected by the storm but was able to stay open, said Jean Sirois, strategic planning and acquisitions director for Winona, Minn.-based RTP. "We had to cut back a little bit, mostly in polypropylene, but overall we were in good shape. We were able to get material from other parts of world."

Techmer PM of Clinton, Tenn., had to replace one type of polyethylene with a similar PE from a different supplier, President Ryan Howley said. But for the most part, the firm was able to overcome any supply issues.

Plastics Group of America, based in Woonsocket, R.I., "was very fortunate," according to Executive Vice President Mike Rosenthal. "We had done a lot of pre-buying, mostly of polypropylene, so we had a lot of material here."

For two to three weeks after the storm hit, Asahi Kasei Plastics North America was unable to get resin shipments from Houston to its plants in Michigan and Alabama, commercial operations vice president Ramesh Iyer said. But the firm "kept communications" and didn't miss any shipments of its compounds.

"It was a challenge to plan production and required flexibility from our customers," Iyer added. "If we didn't have two plant locations, I can't imagine where we would have been."

Plants operated by Teknor Apex of Pawtucket, R.I., "were able to get what we needed with a bit of work and some difficulty," President William Murray said. "The biggest single thing has been logistics," he added. "Rail service was poor going into [the storm], and then trucking was at a premium. Sometimes you found material sitting in a warehouse, but you couldn't get it to your plants."

The storm "impacted supply and costs on many petrochemical markets," according to Kevin Putman, director of sales, marketing and operations at Penn Color in Doylestown, Pa. "Things have recovered to a large extent, but raw materials are still tight. It's been a challenge but nothing major, and we've largely avoided supply disruptions."

Clariant Masterbatches of Holden, Mass., also "didn't see a lot of impact," according to North America marketing head Pete Prusak. "There were some raw materials that we had to look for, but overall we were very lucky," he said.

Matthew Hellstern, CEO of Americhem Inc. in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, said that business was affected by the storm, but "this is really about human beings and their families and their homes."

Americhem was tracking the storm and collaborating with its vendor base early on, he added. The firm had no interruption in production and was able to forecast its safety stocks.

"Our methodology is that we plan for every SKU in terms of the materials we need, and this allowed us to fill our customers' orders for products," Hellstern said. "Today, most materials are available."

PolyOne Corp. of Avon Lake, Ohio, "was grateful that all of its employees in the affected regions remained safe," a company spokesperson said in an email.

Like many companies, the spokesperson added, PolyOne is experiencing raw material supply disruptions and incurring additional expenses as a result of the storm, including higher shipping costs as suppliers deal with route disruptions.

The company incurred no structural damage to its two manufacturing facilities nor a distribution center in the Houston area, which are all returning to normal operations.

"In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, PolyOne is focused on assisting local communities and residents where needed while continuing to serve customers," the spokesperson said.

Economist Bill Wood discusses the impact of the hurricane season on resin pricing.