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
March 02, 2020 04:25 PM

Materials firms watch, wait for coronavirus impact

Frank Esposito
Senior Staff Reporter
Plastics News Staff
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention activated a team to monitor the coronavirus after it appeared in China.

    Plastics materials firms worldwide are joining other industries tracking the impact of the coronavirus, with one U.S.-based firm already expressing concerns about the impact of the outbreak on transportation.

    Dow Inc., a plastics and chemicals giant based in Midland, Mich., "is monitoring the situation carefully, [but] at this time, there is no indication of an interruption to normal business operations," a company spokesperson said in an email to Plastics News.

    The spokesperson added that Dow "is taking prudent steps and has implemented comprehensive preparedness plans at the corporate, geographic, site and functional levels to mitigate possible impacts." These plans address various scenarios in relation to customers, suppliers, businesses, employees, feedstock and energy supplies, production operations and supply chain.

    Officials at resins and compounding leader LyondellBasell Industries "are actively monitoring the situation and are taking the appropriate actions to protect our people and our assets," a spokesperson said.

    "At this time, 100 percent of our employees are virus free, and we are not aware of the coronavirus situation impacting our ability to meet our contractual obligations and deliver products to our customers," the spokesperson added.

    Teknor Apex Co., a leading compounder based in Pawtucket, R.I., cited transportation as a key element that might be affected by the outbreak.

    "The biggest operational concern we are seeing is in transportation, with limited vessel activity, container availability and equipment," Teknor officials said in a statement sent to Plastics News. "Ports are congested with backlogs and cargo transport is under-staffed due to quarantines and the limited mobility of the workforce in China."

    They added that Teknor "will consider further measures, as the situation warrants, to promote the safety of our employees and support our customers' need for an assured supply."

    "Our employees' health and safety remains our first priority, and all measures to protect and control the virus are being observed," officials said. "As this is an evolving situation, we have introduced specific travel restrictions for our employees, until there is more clarity from the [World Health Organization] and [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention].

    "All business will be conducted and supported remotely, or from our regional offices, to the best of our ability. We are happy to report that at this time no Teknor Apex employees have contracted the virus."

    Currently, through alternate sources and planning, Teknor has maintained a positive supply position that supports business continuity. The firm's production site in Suzhou, China, is up and running with more than 80 percent of its staff and plenty of capacity for orders, officials said.

    A spokesperson for global color and additive concentrates leader Ampacet Corp. told PN that the firm "has analyzed the potential supply chain impact of the coronavirus and taken proactive measures to ensure the consistent supply of China-sourced materials necessary to produce our masterbatch products."

    "We continue to monitor and will take all actions necessary and available to minimize disruption to our operations and our customers' material supply," the spokesperson for Tarrytown, N.Y.-based Ampacet said.

    In an email, a spokesperson for global acetal resins leader Celanese Corp. of Dallas said that "at this point in time, we do not foresee any major disruption of supply to our customers."

    Plastics and chemicals makers Covestro AG and DuPont Co. previously said that production at their Chinese production plants has been reduced because of the impact of the virus. Both of those firms also have made large donations of medical supplies to virus relief efforts.

    WPC canceled

    Organizers of the World Petrochemicals Conference announced March 1 that the event, scheduled for March 24-27 in New Orleans, will not take place "in light of developing circumstances."

    "Our decision was made following recent guidance from health officials and in light of the rapid growth in global cases of COVID-19, as well as increasing travel restrictions and other circumstances," organizers said. "With delegates from 47 countries due to gather for WPC 2020 later this month, we wanted to provide as much notice as possible."

    The next WPC is now set for March 2021 in New Orleans.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Industry sees Biden bioplastics goal as serious signal
    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
    Biden sets US goal to replace 90% of plastics with biomaterials
    2
    Industry sees Biden bioplastics goal as serious signal
    3
    Report urges treaty to regulate plastics like pharmaceuticals, limit growth
    4
    One injured in explosion at Ineos cumene plant in Texas
    5
    Engineering resin prices close the first quarter with a drop
    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