COVID-19 Bulletin: June 4

Good Afternoon,

More COVID-19 news relevant to the plastics industry:

Supply

• Russia and Saudi Arabia reached a preliminary agreement to extend the current level of production cuts provided that other OPEC+ nations comply with production quotas in May.
• After volatile trading Wednesday that saw Brent crude rise above $40/bbl for the first time since March, oil prices were lower in early trading today, with WTI down 1.4% to $36.76/bbl and Brent down 0.7% to $39.5/bbl.
• The global expansion in plastics resin capacity has been upended by the COVID-19 crisis, with many projects too far along to postpone or scale back.

Supply Chain

• FedEx joined UPS in charging surcharges to some high-volume customers who have inundated shippers with deliveries of online orders.
• Supply chain constraints and safety protocols are impairing efficiency and hampering the return to business for many industrial companies. 
• Supply chain delays in the electronics industry, which was disrupted by trade wars before the COVID-19 crisis, have been running several weeks and are expected to extend into July.
• Our Gold Standard logistics and transportation partners continue to operate without disruption.
• Ports are operating normally:

Markets

• New unemployment claims last week of 1.88 million were the lowest in 11 weeks, signaling that job losses are slowing. Some 42 million Americans have lost their jobs since the pandemic emerged.
• Bloomberg’s GDP tracker indicates that global growth slowed at a 2.3% annual pace in May, better than April’s 4.2%, suggesting the world economy has bottomed.
• The U.S. Senate unanimously passed modifications to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP):
  • The changes will extend the payback period from two to five years, extend the time for spending PPP loans from 8 to 24 weeks, and drop the amount required to cover payroll expenses from 75% to 60%.
  • About $130 billion in PPP funding remains to be lent.
• The U.S. Transportation Department gave approval to 15 airlines to cut service to 75 domestic airports.
• American Airlines plans to boost flights to 40% of capacity in July from about 30% today.
• A Distributor Weekly Pandemic Index indicated revenues for industrial distributors increased slightly the week ended May 29 after nine consecutive weeks of double-digit declines.
• Automobile dealers, hurt by a lack of showroom traffic during shutdowns, now faces a new challenge: a lack of the most popular vehicles as manufacturers slowly resume production. 
• Health insurers, facing regulator pressures, are following the lead of automotive insurers in offering premium discounts due to the drop in claims as people defer doctor visits and elective procedures.
• The nation’s 10,000 urgent care facilities, largely ignored as part of the COVID-19 healthcare response, possess a reservoir of untapped testing capacity and could test nearly 12 million more people a month.
• Confirmed COVID-19 cases surpassed 6.5 million globally.

International

• Brazil now leads the world in new COVID-19 cases: 

• Mexico reported its highest daily death toll yesterday with more than 1,000 COVID-19 fatalities. 
• Public confidence plunged in Sweden over its lax management of the pandemic:

• International lenders have extended loans and suspended loan payments for many African countries, but the continent lacks the capacity for the massive fiscal and monetary stimulus employed by wealthy countries to combat COVID-19 shutdowns.
• Africa accounts for a low percentage of COVID-19 cases and fewer than 1% of deaths, perhaps because of the continent’s ambient temperature, relatively young population and low obesity rates.
• With no signs in sight of a second infection wave after initial reopening steps, Western European nations are easing restrictions further. 
• European retail sales fell more than 11% in April, the second month of double-digit decline.

Our Operations

• Our Healthcare team, in collaboration with Plastics News, will host a webinar on materials selection for medical applications on June 11. Click here to register. 
• Our Healthcare team is also offering videoconferences for clients seeking advice on medical material selection, manufacturing and regulations. To schedule a meeting, contact Global Healthcare Manager Josh Blackmore.
• Our 3D Printing team is offering videoconferences for clients seeking advice on part design, equipment selection, material selection and all aspects of 3D printing. To schedule a meeting, contact 3D Printing Market Manager Haleyanne Freedman.
• Our Color & Compounding team has introduced an expanded linecard of pulverized products for compounders.
• 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.