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July 30, 2020 08:30 AM

Kickstart: Advance warning on resin pricing

Don Loepp
Editor
Plastics News Editor
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    Advance warning on resin pricing

    Resin pricing stories are among the most popular on PlasticsNews.com. For about nine months, we've put those stories behind what's called a hard paywall, meaning readers have to be Plastics News subscribers to access them.

    Starting very soon, you'll also have to be a paid subscriber to access the current resin prices.

    That's a change. Until now, the current resin prices have been free for anyone to read. We also have a section with historical resin pricing that's been a premium for paid subscribers only. Starting next week, the current prices will also be behind the paywall.

    If you read any news online, you already know that this is a trend in the journalism business. Publications launched websites in the 1990s with the strategy to give everything away for free, thinking that high traffic would attract advertising. But in the past few years you've seen more sites either lock down their content or allow readers to access only a few stories per month for free.

    If you're a frequent visitor to PlasticsNews.com, you know that we're already putting most stories behind the hard paywall. That's become a key part of our business strategy since late 2019. The marching orders to the Plastics News editorial staff is to report and write stories that subscribers will pay to read. It's been working very well; we have thousands of new paid subscribers in just a few months.

    Resin pricing is a natural addition to the menu of content that's available online only to paid subscribers. Our pricing — especially for commodity resins polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, PVC and PET — is updated frequently and is essential reading for buyers and sellers. We know that other quality resin pricing indexes exist, but those cost much, much more than an annual subscription to Plastics News.

    If you're currently lucky enough to get a free copy of Plastics News in the mail, nothing will change. But savvy web readers know we typically record price changes on the Thursday before an issue is published. Having access to information first gives them a competitive advantage.

    Plastics News has been covering resin pricing since we started publishing in 1989, and it has been a popular part of our website since we first went online in 1996. It's a trusted source, and we're counting on readers to recognize that they're getting tremendous value for subscribing.

    Finally, since this is Kickstart, here's some Plastics News trivia: Senior reporter Frank Esposito has been handling our resin pricing since April 1997. And he'll tell you that he had perfect eyesight and a full head of hair when he started. Handling resin pricing is stressful work!

    Women Breaking the Mold goes virtual

    It's been fun to watch our Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum grow into a successful annual event. Now it's joined the growing list of 2020 conferences that are moving to a virtual format, in light of health concerns and travel restrictions surrounding COVID-19.

    But there's a silver lining: Now registration is free until Sept. 30, so companies can afford to let many more of their team members participate.

    We'll offer 12 virtual sessions featuring more than 15 speakers and panelists. The sessions will take place on Nov. 17-19.

    A special panel will feature Plastics News' 2020 class of Women Breaking the Mold. You'll meet them next week; we're profiling 32 leading women in the plastics industry in print, and we'll run extended versions of their stories on PlasticsNews.com.

    Check out the agenda at www.plasticsnews.com/wbmforum for details.

    Private equity scores another big injection molder

    Today IPL Plastics Inc., a major injection molder of pails and other rigid packaging, announced that it has agreed to be purchased by Chicago-based private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC.

    IPL is based in Montreal and has been publicly traded on Toronto's stock exchange since 2018. But as I reported in our breaking news story, the shares have underperformed since the IPO. They traded at C$13.50 then, but had dropped to C$3.35 in March 2020, just before published news reports that private equity firms were interested in buying the company.

    The stock's limited liquidity and market underperformance made it difficult for the company to finance and execute growth opportunities, IPL said in a news release.

    Madison Dearborn has a history in the packaging sector. The firm bought Bway Holding Co., an IPL competitor, in 2010 for $915 million. Two years later, Madison Dearborn sold Bway to Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Platinum Equity LLC for $1.24 billion.

    If you're keeping score at home, Platinum Equity then sold Bway to Stone Canyon Industries of Santa Monica, Calif., for $2.4 billion in 2016.

    If you're an IPL investor, that appreciation must look pretty attractive right now.

    Rhoda Miel is taking some well-deserved days off, so today's Kickstart is by Plastics News Editor Don Loepp. Follow me on Twitter @donloepp.

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