December 28, 2022 • Posted in Daily Bulletin

MH Daily Bulletin: December 28

News relevant to the plastics industry:

At M. Holland

  • Market Expertise: M. Holland offers a host of resources to clients, prospects and suppliers across nine strategic markets.
  • M. Holland will be closed Monday, Jan. 2 for the New Year’s holiday.

Supply

  • Oil held steady at three-week highs Tuesday as more refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast resumed operations from Winter Storm Elliott. Some U.S. refiners will be unable to restart operations until January after the storm led to widespread disruption, spurring a loss of about 20% of U.S. motor fuel output.
  • Natural gas production in the Appalachian Basin, the nation’s largest producing region, fell a record 27% after Winter Storm Elliott froze wells and equipment. 
  • Energy prices reversed course today on surging COVID-19 infections in China. In mid-morning trading, WTI futures were down 2.2% at $77.76/bbl, Brent was down 2.3% at $82.37/bbl, and U.S. natural gas was down 12.0% at $4.65/MMBtu.
  • The average U.S. price of gasoline is forecast to hit $3.49 per gallon next year, down 50 cents from 2022.
  • The U.S. became the world’s largest LNG exporter during the first half of 2022 at an average of 11.2 billion cubic feet per day:
The United States became the world’s largest LNG exporter in the first half of 2022

Supply Chain

Domestic Markets

United States Goods Trade Balance
  • U.S. wholesale inventories rose 1% to a total of $933.6 billion in November, the 28th straight monthly rise, and were up 21% year over year:
United States Wholesale Inventories
  • Annual price growth in the U.S. housing market slid into single digits in October for the first time in about two years, according to two widely tracked surveys. The month-over-month reading for the Case-Shiller 20-city index fell 0.8%, its fourth month of declines
United States Case Shiller Home Price Index MoM

International Markets

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