Tom Langan

Low prices don't have to mean low-to-no profits Outlook for Natural Gas Prices Persistently high shale gas production keeps a lid on prices while the floor creaks

As discussed in Part 1, the U.S. shale gas boom has made natural gas plentiful and cheap, giving U.S. manufacturers a competitive edge over rival manufacturing countries where the price of natural gas and electricity...

The shale gas boom has flattened natural-gas prices and, by extension, made electricity cheap in the U.S. Those low energy prices - and stagnant wages - are giving U.S. manufacturers a significant cost advantage over...

One of the primary purposes of hedging raw materials costs (crude oil, natural gas, refined products, and petrochemicals) is to guard against the need to raise product prices to maintain profit margins. The risk of...

Last time, I introduced readers to the resin cost control tools offered by Cargill ETM. IMO, the most advantageous of the tools are options - limited cost & low risk "insurance" against 1) higher resin prices before...

...along with the other right tools for you to control resins costs and secure profit margins

Last time, we discussed using the difference between a daily resin price (reported by PCW or TPE) and crude oil futures as a trigger for hedging forward resins purchases. The resin/oil difference (or spread) mimic the...

Last time, we discussed the most effective means for processors to hedge forward resins costs: outright purchases of physical supply or futures in polypropylene or polyethylene or protective purchases...