The winter storm in February that shut down nearly 80% of Resin production within the US served as a wakeup call for the industry to address the risks facing every facet of the domestic supply chain. U.S resin prices have skyrocketed over the past several months, with almost every industry facing longer lead times and rising production and operating costs as a result.
The supply/demand imbalance has called into question the reliability of current supply sources. While some producers have looked to increase Resin imports, this brings with it a host of new limitations and unseen costs. Now, manufacturers are left searching for alternative solutions to manage production until supply can be restored and sustained to previous levels.
Asides from the recent supply and price concerns, underlying factors such as the shortage of skilled labor across the plastics industry has already placed a strain on the production capacity of polymer manufacturers to keep up with rising demand. Compounded with rising prices, the plastics industry is poised to deal with a new slew of challenges that could jeopardize efforts from the Biden Administration to re-shore American manufacturing
Seraph CEO Ambrose Conroy joined the Plastics Today podcast to discuss how the industry found itself in this predicament and what we can expect in the weeks and months ahead. You can listen to the entire interview below.
Listen to the podcast on the Plastics Today website.
