Recovery underway for resin distribution in 2020

August 25th, 2020

Frank Esposito
Plastics News
August 19, 2020

North American resin distributors have overcome many obstacles to keep their customers supplied with material during the global COVID-19 pandemic — and their work isn’t over.

“We almost have a moral obligation to provide key raw materials to our customers at a time like this,” said Vishal Goradia, senior vice president at Vinmar International of Houston. “Early on, we saw the global effect of rolling shutdowns. It was affecting a different region every month, but we kept our focus on being reliable to our customers and suppliers.”

Plastics News recently spoke with several resin distribution executives to see how they were navigating the uncharted waters of 2020. Here’s what they had to say:

The year begins…

Many executives said the year was off to a good start. Then the pandemic caused global shutdowns across almost every industry in March.

“A lot of places shut down and there were some stranded rail cars of resin,” said Ed Holland, President and CEO of M. Holland Co. in Northbrook, Ill. “The trough in May wasn’t as deep as we expected, and June and July bounced back.”

“In mid-March, everything fell off,” added Kevin Chase, president of Chase Plastic Services Inc. in Clarkston, Mich. “In automotive, all tiers were shut down until most places made automotive an essential business. We’re slowly recovering now.”