COVID-19 Bulletin: April 29

Good Afternoon,

More COVID-19 news relevant to the plastics industry:

Supply

• Oil prices moved higher in early trading today on forecasts that inventories rose less than expected. The WTI price jumped 14% in early trading to $14.20/bbl, and the Brent price rose 3% to $23.42/bbl.

Supply Chain

• Our Gold Standard logistics and transportation partners continue to operate without disruption.
• U.S. ports continue to operate smoothly:

Markets

• U.S. GDP fell by 4.8% in the first quarter, more than expected.

• California, among the first states struck by COVID-19, plans a staged reopening in the coming weeks.
• Meat-packing plants, inundated with COVID-19 spread, were ordered to remain open by the White House, which invoked the Defense Production Act.
• Companies seemingly benefiting from the COVID-19 outbreak, such as 3M and Pepsi, are reporting that the detrimental impact of the crisis outweighs any apparent windfalls.
• General Motors has published a comprehensive guide on back-to-work protocols.
• Ford/Lincoln and electronic vehicle developer Rivian cited uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 in canceling plans to jointly develop an all-electric SUV.
• A collapse of the U.S. Post Office, for which the White House is resisting rescue aid, could create challenges for small businesses and rural areas that depend on the service.
• The COVID-19 crisis may raise consumer awareness of sustainability challenges and drive change, including better harmonization of definitions and regulations, a shift in emphasis from banning materials to improved design for reuse and recovery, industrial scale sanitization of reusables, and more automation in collection and recycling.
• COVID-19 may kill the open office concept.
• COVID-19 is impacting the waste and recycling sector on many levels.

International

• Plastic demand is surging in China. The government announced that polymer imports rose 21% in March from February and were down only slightly from March 2019.
• South Korea laid out a detailed playbook for its pending reopening.
• Mexico is grappling with a coincidence of challenges, including an export crash, a drop in remittances, the oil-price decline and currency weakness.

Our Operations

• Our Healthcare team is offering video conferences for clients seeking advice on medical material selection, manufacturing and regulations. To schedule a meeting, contact Global Healthcare Market Manager Josh Blackmore.
• To access 3D printing training, order parts and seek technical assistance, visit our new online resource.
• M. Holland is fully operational and prepared to meet client needs for materials, material selection, logistics services and technical support.
• We have issued the following status statement:

In accordance with the guidance provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), M. Holland Company is considered a member of a critical infrastructure industry and will therefore remain operative. As such, with any necessary accommodations made to ensure the health and safety of our staff and business partners, we will continue to fully perform our normal business operations.

Thank you,

M. Holland Company

We will provide further COVID-19 bulletins as circumstances dictate. For all COVID-19 updates and notices, please refer to the M. Holland website.