Force Majeure: Yet another Corrugated Plastic Increase (Coroplast)

[FireSprint.com]

More increases coming down the pipe again. The street price of coro will likely double by May.

So far, our FireSprint printed price on yard signs will stay consistent, we bought a couple of months worth of material in hopes to hedge these increases. I assume they will be temporary.

Here's what I recently heard regarding the plants that produce plastic resin:

• BASF declared force majeure on nylon products and intermediates made at its Freeport, Texas, plant and on Ultraform® POM Q600 grades.
• Braskem declared force majeure on polypropylene products.
• Celanese declared force majeure on a broad list of products.
• Chevron Phillips declared force majeure on polyethylene products.
• Covestro announced that the winter storm has curtailed production at its Texas operations, forcing a reassessment of allocations and extension of lead times.
• DuPont declared a global force majeure on Zytel® (including Zytel® HTN and Zytel® Specialty Nylons), Crastin®, Rynite®, Selar®, Minlon® and Pipelon®.
• Flint Hills declared force majeure on polypropylene products due to the storm.
• ExxonMobil said it is allocating polypropylene products.
• Formosa Plastics Corporation USA declared force majeure on PP, PE and upstream products from its Point Comfort, Texas, plant.
• INEOS declared force majeure on polypropylene products due to the storm.
• Invista declared force majeure on U.S. supply of PA66 intermediate chemicals.

We've got your back! FireSprint is ready to help with all the political signs and graduation signs you'll be selling this spring!

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

We are buying pallets after receiving the 21% increase notice just after the 10% notice. I think more than any year; we are going to see massive increases across the spectrum of sign products. 3M is already claiming "shortages" of their popular products, and so have a few other suppliers... Aluminum and Wood products are ticking up too.

 

[FireSprint.com]

This will affect everything in our industry. Corrugated plastic is a high volume product that is highly susceptible to the price of resin, so it shows the issues first, but PVC, Vinyl, Styrene, ACM, Packaging Materials, etc. all feel the pinch. I have been getting 2-3 price change letters a day from every industry we buy from.

There are two major reasons for this:

1. The ice storm in Texas
2. Manufacturers are buying huge amounts of raw materials even though global supply chains are disrupted. <-- This is actually a good thing: In general factories are optimistic, so they are buying a lot!

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

I had to look up force majeure.

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

I hope that globally we can keep ticking up demand and stave off a downturn. It's funny, every corporation and business owner I interact with has bright optimism that is thinly veiling their fret. The perfect storm of confusion has really set in.

We are determined to keep moving forward and striving for better.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Cheap money + supply constraints = inflation

 

[WYLDGFI]

IM ready to get another skid and store it in my shop. Damn

 

[Glavin_ID]

We spent the whole first part of this week stocking up on materials. We bought everything we could off the floor from our suppliers at the current pricing. Now we have a new problem, where to put it all, haha. I have a very close connection to an executive at one of the companies who manufactures the resins our products use and they were telling me the same thing FireSprint said, expect huge increases and supply issues in the near term and expect another huge increase within the next few months. Our increase from two suppliers this week was 25% once their floor stock was gone on coroplast. They were also saying 4-12 week lead times.

 

[Stacey K]

I had to look up force majeure.

Ditto

 

[rjssigns]

My in town supplier of coro had a 12 week lead time and would allow me the privilege of paying 2.5X as much.

Ordered from Grimco and got it next day without the price increase. I should probably place the same order today.

 

[Gino]

Ya know, I just don't get the hype ?? I used to pay $19 for a 1/2" piece of duraply. Today, it has a fancy name, far less quality and it costs around $60 or so. And this company charges to deliver it. All things go up. It's just today, no one wants to sound responsible for it and passes the buck onto some stupid reason, another country or middleman. Gas is going up, fuel oil is going up, I just had a starter put in my truck and it went up almost $300 from when they quoted me, til I paid for it 2 days later. Ya either play the game or get outta the way and let the others pass ya by. There's no free ride...... or even close to it. Pay the piper.

 

[Johnny Best]

Pay the piper.

"payer le joueur de cornemuse" Come on Gino, you got to talk the talk, globally, just wait until inflation starts to kick in.

 

[rjssigns]

Ya know, I just don't get the hype ?? I used to pay $19 for a 1/2" piece of duraply. Today, it has a fancy name, far less quality and it costs around $60 or so. And this company charges to deliver it. All things go up. It's just today, no one wants to sound responsible for it and passes the buck onto some stupid reason, another country or middleman. Gas is going up, fuel oil is going up, I just had a starter put in my truck and it went up almost $300 from when they quoted me, til I paid for it 2 days later. Ya either play the game or get outta the way and let the others pass ya by. There's no free ride...... or even close to it. Pay the piper.

Nothing to do with hype Gino but I understand your comment. End user pays for it regardless.

Critical thinking asks: What happens when you can't get the materials to run your shop, or the customer refuses to pay the exorbitant quote?

We know there's going to be supply chain issues whether "hype" or not. Refusing to acknowledge this information or prepare to keep your doors swinging is foolish.

Something to it when the big dogs on Signs101 are buying pallets of materials. Just sayin'

 

[Gino]

I'm not waiting for anything to kick in. I choose not to participate in such foolish schemes.

Reality is...... it's gonna be whatever it's gonna be. Buying up skids and train car loads of various substrates is like going to the dentist and getting novacaine for removing your tooth. It postpones the pain. That's all. In the end, the "end-user" will pay these prices or do without. Kinda simple in my book.

Does it mean by buying ahead in all this stock, you're gonna keep your prices down for the next 10 years ?? I think not, so why waste your money ??

I'll keep what little money I have in my pocket and let my customers continue paying for whatever they want or need. No sense putting money on my shelves that isn't sold yet, and helping my distributors stay afloat with their reindeer games.​

 

[Notarealsignguy]

If I'm going to stock up on something before a price increase it's gonna be to put a few dollars in my pocket, not someone else's. What happens if you load up and 2 months later the bottom falls out?

 

[Johnny Best]

It's basically the same mindset people who see a pandemic coming and go to the store and buy all the toilet paper available.
Gives them a feeling of security that they are prepared in case of disaster.

 

[Gino]

Okay, let's take this for instance.

How many of you here, both regular members and Merchant Members get e-mails almost everyday from distributors, vendors, suppliers and whatever else about..... this is gonna happen in a few days, so act before such & such a date ?? How many of these same people send you 15% offers if taken by a certain date ?? How many of these people are contacting you about the upcoming holiday hours about 2 months before the holiday ?? They also include some of the holiday sales gonna be going on, but order now, while supplies last ?? How many of these people are offering more and more free shipping or free this or that ?? Now, they're telling us there is gonna be a shortage of these materials because of wha....... ?? biden is now in ?? All of the in-place decisions are now being ruled out ?? Someone sneezes over in timbuktu and we feel it over here ?? Oh yeah, that's covid19 stuff. They have all their gimmicks and shenanigans in place to get you to buy things you might need, but its only helping them. You..... temporarily, but not down the road.

Call it what you will......... I'll order when the time comes. I have enough on my shelves to last awhile, but like mentioned..... the end-user is always the person paying for this stuff, so might'as well just spend your money on things you really need or want, like ice cream, potato chips and pizza.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

might'as well just spend your money on things you really need or want, like ice cream, potato chips and pizza.

You left out the beer and loose women

 

[Stacey K]

I already lost a lot of business because I couldn't get black hoodies over the last few months. And a good number of people were upset and didn't believe me. And a good number of people came in and accused other shops of lying about it. Then they go on to tell me they can't get their own materials for their business. Frustrating.

I have some stock but not a ton, it's just me here so I don't put out 50 signs a month but I have enough here to hold me over for a few months. I hope!

 

[Solventinkjet]

And a good number of people came in and accused other shops of lying about it. Then they go on to tell me they can't get their own materials for their business. Frustrating.

This last year has made people really grumpy and suspicious of others. I was called skeezy the other day by a customer because a snow storm delayed his package and he wanted his money back and FedEx denied his claim because it was an act of god. I can't control the weather!