Monday, June 30, 2014

Preparing For a Potential US West Coast Port Strike

We are currently preparing for a potential strike at the west coast ports of the US. This could create potential delays as vessels are diverted to other US ports, resulting in congestion. Please plan ahead and place orders earlier than usual if at all possible to minimize the effects of the strike. We are being told that this will most likely take place after the 4th of July Holiday. If you have any questions/concerns, please do not hesitate to give us a call.

You can also find alot of useful information about preparing for port strikes by clicking the link to the US Customer and Border Protection page below and opening the attachment.


Guidance For Possible Strike


As always, thank you for your continued business. We look forward to continuing to serve you. Have a safe holiday weekend!


Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Market Watch May 2014


Market Watch
Below are listed indicators that we at Global-Pak watch that tend to impact pricing within the packaging world. We have listed the last current market price and an up or down percentage over the previous quarter.
  • Polypropylene Flat at $1541/Metric Ton
  • Polyethylene Down 9.3% to $1561/Metric Ton
  • Oil Down 7.2% to $99.76/Barrel
  • Natural Gas Down 3.9% to $4.78/Million BTU
  • Diesel Fuel Down 4.2% to $3.713/Gal
  • Exchange Rates
    • Rupee at 60.30 - Gained 3.4% against the dollar
    • Yuan at 6.26 - Lost 3.4% against the dollar
 
The pricing indicators on Bulk bags remains flat over the past several months. High volume due to the labor issues in Turkey are pushing European demands upward. This is keeping lead times long and plant capacity high especially at Eurocentric manufacturers.  

Lead times and Election delays seem to be the biggest concerns with Indian manufacturers at present due to high absenteeism. However, this should stabilize at the end of May.  With current stability we do not see any significant increases on the horizon.

We have heard rumors that US plastics will be dropping shortly after several recent increases, if the economy remains stable I would expect that we may not see official softening but individual items may be negotiated down.  Our position is not to load up on inventory now as will be able to either spot buy better or negotiate some better individual deals on high volume items. #Global-Pak