By David Maloney, Sr. Account Manager
Every year, right after Memorial Day, our industry goes through a familiar ritual. The chatter starts with “what if.” What if a hurricane disrupts our industry this year? What impact will it have on pricing and availability?
Resin salespeople subtly (and not-so-subtly) bring up these concerns to their customers, hoping they will “hedge” and prepare for potential disruptions. Processors often “play the odds” and assume there won’t be a problem. The truth is, we don’t know until it happens, and by then, it’s usually too late.
I often tell my clients, “I won’t patronize you by trying to scare you about the weather. You are well aware that there might or might not be an issue this year.”
I’ve been careful not to overemphasize the “doomsday” weather possibility, since most years it isn’t a problem, and customers don’t appreciate being condescended to. That said, this year feels significantly different.
Ocean temperatures have been extremely high, we’ve already had numerous tropical storms, and our first hurricane arrived in July — much earlier than usual. Forecasters indicate that we might face much more severe weather before fall.
This environment would normally make a long-time salesman like me a wee bit nervous. However, at Genesis Polymers, we are fortunate to be aligned with the new Heartland Polypropylene and Shell polyethylene plants, located out of the hurricane zone in Alberta, Canada, and Pennsylvania, respectively.
We can obtain Heartland homopolymer polypropylene (soon Heartland clarified polypropylene), and Shell LLDPE and HDPE without interruption. While our competitors’ clients struggle with the uncertainty of obtaining polypropylene and polyethylene from the Gulf, Genesis is well-positioned to support our clients during these uncertain times.
If you would like to know more about our commitment to the resin marketplace and how Genesis Polymers can keep your plant running no matter what Mother Nature yields, please contact us today.
I’ll sleep well tonight. The Genesis resin supply forecast looks great!
