Kickstart: A tumultuous start to the week

Well that was an intense start to the week on Monday, wasn't it?

While I have neither a degree in economic forecasting nor a Magic 8 Ball, I think I'm safe in saying that things may not calm down very quickly. Also, you may not want to take a look at your company stock options or 401(k) statement right now.

Materials reporter Frank Esposito was tracking activity on the stock market and noted that per-share prices of all 15 of the materials stocks covered by Plastics News took a beating. The most eye-popping drops in late trading March 9 were seen by Dow Inc., Westlake Chemical Corp. and AdvanSix Inc., each of which were down more than 20 percent for the day at that time.

Since Feb. 20, per-share prices of Midland, Mich.-based Dow, a global maker of polyethylene and many specialty plastics, are down more than 36 percent. Per-share prices at Houston-based Westlake, a maker of PE and PVC resins as well as many finished PVC products, also are down more than 36 percent.

AdvanSix, a New Jersey maker of nylon 6 resin, has fared even worse, tumbling 51 percent since Feb. 20.

Beyond stock prices, the new volatility in the oil market is pointing to turmoil in chemicals. Consulting firm ICIS noted that naptha fell 24 percent as trading opened on March 9, styrene by 10 percent and benzene by 14 percent.

Those materials are key materials behind polystyrene, PVC, isocyanates and other plastics while naptha is a global price setter for polyethylene.

Sarah Kominek has a roundup of travel restrictions, cancellations and assurances that events will go on as planned, but even those events still on the calendar are facing complications.

Barbara Arnold-Feret, who heads up HP's 3D printing operations, posted a video on LinkedIn noting that its staff would not be attending the Additive Manufacturing Users Group event in Chicago, currently set for late March.

"It's unfortunate but due to the fluid situation with the virus outbreaks, HP is being very cautious, monitoring the situation ... which changes everyday," Arnold-Feret stressed that its employees are still available for information, they're just not attending some events.

COVID-19 is having an impact far beyond plastics events, of course. There is the travel shutdown for all of Italy — including the urethane machinery production region —  for one very big example, while a government committee in Ireland has moved to cancel all St. Patrick's Day events to reduce exposure risks, including the Dublin parade that draws as many as 500,000 people.

Have you found yourself changing any of your day-to-day decisions based on the virus?

Personally, while picking up groceries the other day, I was about to buy some apples, then thought: "Perhaps I want to buy some already bagged, rather than those sitting out for everyone to touch." So, a 3-pound bag of Honeycrisp went in my cart.

But enough depressing news. Today, we'll be posting profiles of winners of Plastics News' Processor of the Year, the Excellence Award for Employee Relations, Sustained Excellence, Customer Relations and Industry and Public Service.

Each year, an editorial team from PN pays a visit to nominees for Processor of the Year and comes back with stories of the companies' exceptional work. So this week, when it may feel like things are out of control, maybe take a minute or two and find something inspiring from other companies out there, working day after day to make good things happen.