July 6, 2020 • Posted in Daily Bulletin, News

COVID-19 Bulletin: July 6

Good Afternoon,

More COVID-19 news relevant to the plastics industry:

The WTI crude price stood at $40.43 in early trading today, while Brent was at $42.01/bbl.
China is on pace to purchase less than 20% of the energy products it agreed to buy under this year’s Phase 1 trade agreement with the U.S.
Dominion Energy and Duke Energy are abandoning their planned $8 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline due to regulatory obstacles, sowing doubts about large-scale energy projects in the future. Dominion also is selling its gas transmission business. Duke Energy reaffirmed its commitment to invest in renewable energy.
Germany passed legislation to phase out the use of coal as an energy source by 2038, the first major country to do so.
Gasoline retailers are enjoying record margins with high July Fourth holiday demand coupled with low wholesale prices.

Dow has agreed to sell its rail logistics assets as part of a plan to focus on its product-producing assets.
The transportation and warehousing sector saw nearly 100,000 job gains in June:

Amazon is delaying its Prime Day for a second time, from September to October, out of concerns about supply chain disruptions due to rising COVID-19 infection rates.
Our Gold Standard logistics and transportation partners continue to operate without disruption.
Ports are operating normally:

The rolling seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases exceeded 48,000 on Sunday, a record for the 27th consecutive day:
- Former epicenter New York, which has largely tamed the virus, has been replaced by four concerning hot spots: Arizona, California, Florida and Texas, all of which reported daily record infections over the holiday weekend.
- Florida, with more than 11,000 new COVID-19 cases reported on Saturday, and Texas, with more than 8,000, accounted for 40% of national infections over the holiday weekend.
- Arizona’s case count has risen at a 4.1% rate for the past seven days.
U.S. manufacturing activity is rebounding but remains well below 2019 levels:

Goldman Sachs lowered its outlook for the U.S. economy in 2020 from a 4.2% contraction to a 4.6% contraction in expectation of a smaller rebound in the third quarter as more states retrench in the face of accelerating COVID-19 spread.
As the second-quarter reporting season for public companies begins, average revenues are expected to be down 11.1% and earnings down 43.8%.
Used car sales and prices have rebounded strongly in June due to stimulus spending, low interest rates and shortages of new cars as automakers ramp up production.
With consumers looking for off-road adventures during the pandemic, Ford is reviving its Bronco brand after 25 years in retirement.
Testing is proving to be a difficult and expensive protocol to implement for companies reopening facilities and offices.
Kroger has received FDA approval to provide at-home COVID-19 testing kits to all its frontline workers through an affiliation with a laboratory partner.
The pandemic is accelerating a shift toward a cashless economy as consumers shop more online and turn to cards and cashless payments out of safety concerns.
More than 200 medical experts from 32 countries are pressing the World Health Organization to definitively acknowledge the airborne transmission risk of COVID-19.
U.S. COVID-19 infections are approaching 3 million today.

India surpassed Russia with the third-highest COVID-19 infections in the world behind Brazil and the U.S.
Tokyo, which has experienced triple digit new COVID-19 infections for five straight days, is preparing for a possible second wave.
Israel’s cabinet will meet today to consider new restrictions and economic measures to address a renewed surge in infections.
Unlike past recessions, the COVID-19 recession has impacted service sectors first and foremost, hitting Latino and Hispanic workers particularly hard since they constitute about half of service workers.
Job losses among migrant workers around the world could reduce remittances by up to 20% this year, dealing a further economic blow to many developing countries.
Plastimagen, Mexico’s largest plastics trade show, has been postponed from November to January 2021.
Berlin’s public transportation company initiated an ad campaign urging riders to forego deodorant as a means of forcing others to properly wear face masks to cover their noses.

Today we welcome Lindy Holland, Market Manager, Sustainability, back to work after a challenging bout with COVID-19.
To access 3D printing training, order parts and seek technical assistance, visit our new online resource.
Market Expertise: M. Holland offers a host of resources to clients, prospects and suppliers across nine strategic markets. To arrange a videoconference or meeting with any of our Market Managers, please visit our website.
M. Holland’s official status statement is available here.

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.