Resin Pricing and Hurricane Harvey in Houston
The spot resin markets were generally slow this past week, then the market began to pick up as Hurricane Harvey began to form and threaten the heart of the Houston area Petrochemical industry. A small flurry of activity ensued as buyers, fearing disruptions, sought to secure additional material as an inventory buffer. All commodity grades of Polyethylene and Polypropylene rose $.005/lb, and as the week drew to a close, resin suppliers were pulling offers off the table pending the storm situation. Ahead of Harvey’s landfall, Petrochemical complexes began to take precautionary matters by shutting down numerous facilities including crackers, refineries, resin reactors, as well as logistics related shipping channels, ports, warehouses, railways and roads, which together, will absolutely impact resin supply - the full magnitude of which cannot be determined as the storm system remains active. Harvey hit the Houston area Friday night as a huge Category 4 Hurricane, dumping ra