David Savastano09.20.17
As we head to press, the southern United States is reeling from Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma. The devastation in terms of lives lost is terrible; the damage to infrastructure is incredible and, for now, incalculable.
We have seen the wreckage these hurricanes have left in their wake, but we have also seen good come from it: the people working so hard to save their neighbors and strangers. It is human nature to help others, and along these lines, many companies within the ink industry supply chain are offering their help.
For the ink industry and its suppliers, there is a financial impact to these devastating hurricanes. Southern Texas and Louisiana produce much of the feedstocks in the US, and both were hit hard. For example, analyst IHS Markit reported that more than 50% of ethylene production in the US was shut down as a result of Hurricane Harvey, and that takes time to restart these plants. The same goes for polyethylene and other key feedstocks. Add to that the spike in gasoline prices caused by shuttering of refineries, and that part of the ink supply chain is in turmoil, and it is hard to say when everything will revert back to normal.
Titanium dioxide is one area that is not returning back to previous norms any time soon. Beginning with a fire at Huntsman’s plant in Finland in January and continuing through consolidations in the TiO2 industry, material supply is tight and costs are rising. With the announcement that France is considering action on TiO2 as possibly carcinogenic, ink leaders are forced to consider options for producing white inks.
In The Raw Material Market, which begins on page 26, I spoke with ink industry leaders, who discussed the latest in these topics as well as others. It could be a challenging year ahead for purchasing executives.
Our September/October issue also includes Ink World’s annual Buyers’ Guide, the industry’s most comprehensive listing of raw materials, equipment and services, as well as leading distributors and key trade associations for the printing and ink industries. In addition to our issue, our Buyers’ Guide is available online at www.inkworldmagazine.com. If your company is not listed and you would like to appear in our Buyers’ Guide, please contact me. Meanwhile, I hope you find our Buyers’ Guide very helpful.
We have seen the wreckage these hurricanes have left in their wake, but we have also seen good come from it: the people working so hard to save their neighbors and strangers. It is human nature to help others, and along these lines, many companies within the ink industry supply chain are offering their help.
For the ink industry and its suppliers, there is a financial impact to these devastating hurricanes. Southern Texas and Louisiana produce much of the feedstocks in the US, and both were hit hard. For example, analyst IHS Markit reported that more than 50% of ethylene production in the US was shut down as a result of Hurricane Harvey, and that takes time to restart these plants. The same goes for polyethylene and other key feedstocks. Add to that the spike in gasoline prices caused by shuttering of refineries, and that part of the ink supply chain is in turmoil, and it is hard to say when everything will revert back to normal.
Titanium dioxide is one area that is not returning back to previous norms any time soon. Beginning with a fire at Huntsman’s plant in Finland in January and continuing through consolidations in the TiO2 industry, material supply is tight and costs are rising. With the announcement that France is considering action on TiO2 as possibly carcinogenic, ink leaders are forced to consider options for producing white inks.
In The Raw Material Market, which begins on page 26, I spoke with ink industry leaders, who discussed the latest in these topics as well as others. It could be a challenging year ahead for purchasing executives.
Our September/October issue also includes Ink World’s annual Buyers’ Guide, the industry’s most comprehensive listing of raw materials, equipment and services, as well as leading distributors and key trade associations for the printing and ink industries. In addition to our issue, our Buyers’ Guide is available online at www.inkworldmagazine.com. If your company is not listed and you would like to appear in our Buyers’ Guide, please contact me. Meanwhile, I hope you find our Buyers’ Guide very helpful.