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Everchem Updates
VOLUME XXI
September 14, 2023
Everchem’s exclusive Closers Only Club is reserved for only the highest caliber brass-baller salesmen in the chemical industry. Watch the hype video and be introduced to the top of the league: — read more
May 22, 2020
Desperate Auto Dealers Betting Big On Discounts To Help Move Inventory
We have been extensively documenting the growing auto industry glut that literally has ports so full that they are keeping ships at sea because they can’t accept any more inventory.
But now, the auto industry looks as though it has a plan to move some of this inventory: massive discounts and incentives.
Texas auto dealer Hayden Elder, who had his worst month in 42 years in March, told Reuters: “I think that will open the door for a ton of orders for the factory.” He owns two Dodge, Jeep and Ram dealerships in a rural eastern region of Texas and has remained open.
Jeff Schuster, president of the Americas for consultancy LMC Automotive expects that the industry will rebound in the second half of the year, but predicts that 2020 sales will end the year up to 25% lower than 2019.
Schuster said: “Until we get plants up and running and the economy restarted, we’re in uncertain territory.” Though if inventory is the problem du jour, we’re not quite sure what cranking out more vehicles at this point is going to solve.
Auto makers have been torching cash while the coronavirus has swept its way across the country. The consequences of the shut down have been immense. Toyota reported a 54% sales decline in April, for example. Hyundai and Mazda reported drops of 39% and 45%, respectively.
Some dealers have already tapped into incentives, however, trying to lure in buyers with seven year low interest loans. In fact, auto retailer Sonic Automotive Inc’s Chief Executive David Smith has called existing loans “unprecedented”.
“I’ve never seen that level of incentives,” he said.
Ford CEO Jim Hackett is also optimistic, stating last week: “My belief is that demand will come back fairly well.”
Ford’s U.S. sales chief then tipped the company’s hand, leading on that they continue to expect help from the government in order to steady their business: “Certainly we believe that some level of government stimulus post crisis to help customers and the auto industry to recover would be appropriate.”
One problem continues to be the used auto market, where prices are expected to crash. It’s a story we have covered at length here on Zero Hedge and it may result in siphoning off some business that would normally purchase new vehicles.
Another risk, should automakers offer extensive discounts, is that customers could want the same incentives over the longer term. Mark Wakefield, a managing director at consultancy AlixPartners said: “Those things are hard to walk back.”
“Competition for these off-lease customers will be fierce,” Cox Automotive economist Charlie Smoke said in late April. When times are tough, Americans have been known to flock to used cars.
We have been keeping a close eye on the auto market throughout the coronavirus crisis.
“There are basically no sales,” we wrote about the auto industry heading into April. One automotive researcher said of the industry-wide crisis: “The whole world is turned upside down right now.”
Recall we just wrote that ships full of cars were being denied entry to ports in California due to the massive inventory glut. Such was the case on April 24 when a cargo of 2,000 Nissan SUVs was approaching the port of Los Angeles. They were told to drop anchor about a mile from the port and remain there.
John Felitto, a senior vice president for the U.S. unit of Norwegian shipping company Wallenius Wilhelmsen said:
“Dealers aren’t really accepting cars and fleet sales are down because rental-car and fleet operators aren’t taking delivery either. This is different from anything we’ve seen before. Everyone is full to the brim.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/desperate-auto-dealers-betting-big-discounts-help-move-inventory
May 22, 2020
Desperate Auto Dealers Betting Big On Discounts To Help Move Inventory
We have been extensively documenting the growing auto industry glut that literally has ports so full that they are keeping ships at sea because they can’t accept any more inventory.
But now, the auto industry looks as though it has a plan to move some of this inventory: massive discounts and incentives.
Texas auto dealer Hayden Elder, who had his worst month in 42 years in March, told Reuters: “I think that will open the door for a ton of orders for the factory.” He owns two Dodge, Jeep and Ram dealerships in a rural eastern region of Texas and has remained open.
Jeff Schuster, president of the Americas for consultancy LMC Automotive expects that the industry will rebound in the second half of the year, but predicts that 2020 sales will end the year up to 25% lower than 2019.
Schuster said: “Until we get plants up and running and the economy restarted, we’re in uncertain territory.” Though if inventory is the problem du jour, we’re not quite sure what cranking out more vehicles at this point is going to solve.
Auto makers have been torching cash while the coronavirus has swept its way across the country. The consequences of the shut down have been immense. Toyota reported a 54% sales decline in April, for example. Hyundai and Mazda reported drops of 39% and 45%, respectively.
Some dealers have already tapped into incentives, however, trying to lure in buyers with seven year low interest loans. In fact, auto retailer Sonic Automotive Inc’s Chief Executive David Smith has called existing loans “unprecedented”.
“I’ve never seen that level of incentives,” he said.
Ford CEO Jim Hackett is also optimistic, stating last week: “My belief is that demand will come back fairly well.”
Ford’s U.S. sales chief then tipped the company’s hand, leading on that they continue to expect help from the government in order to steady their business: “Certainly we believe that some level of government stimulus post crisis to help customers and the auto industry to recover would be appropriate.”
One problem continues to be the used auto market, where prices are expected to crash. It’s a story we have covered at length here on Zero Hedge and it may result in siphoning off some business that would normally purchase new vehicles.
Another risk, should automakers offer extensive discounts, is that customers could want the same incentives over the longer term. Mark Wakefield, a managing director at consultancy AlixPartners said: “Those things are hard to walk back.”
“Competition for these off-lease customers will be fierce,” Cox Automotive economist Charlie Smoke said in late April. When times are tough, Americans have been known to flock to used cars.
We have been keeping a close eye on the auto market throughout the coronavirus crisis.
“There are basically no sales,” we wrote about the auto industry heading into April. One automotive researcher said of the industry-wide crisis: “The whole world is turned upside down right now.”
Recall we just wrote that ships full of cars were being denied entry to ports in California due to the massive inventory glut. Such was the case on April 24 when a cargo of 2,000 Nissan SUVs was approaching the port of Los Angeles. They were told to drop anchor about a mile from the port and remain there.
John Felitto, a senior vice president for the U.S. unit of Norwegian shipping company Wallenius Wilhelmsen said:
“Dealers aren’t really accepting cars and fleet sales are down because rental-car and fleet operators aren’t taking delivery either. This is different from anything we’ve seen before. Everyone is full to the brim.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/desperate-auto-dealers-betting-big-discounts-help-move-inventory
May 21, 2020
Midland — Dow Inc. activated its emergency operations center at its Midland facilities Wednesday after flood waters reached historic levels and mixed with chemical plant containment ponds, raising fears of an environmental disaster. Another fear: That the deluge will stir up cancer-causing dioxins in the river downstream of the federal Superfund site.
The multinational chemicals giant headquartered in Midland temporarily shut down its operations in the Michigan Operations industrial park as the failure of two dams on the Tittabawassee River forced thousands of residents to evacuate. The company’s operating units were shut down except for facilities needed for safely managing chemical containment, company spokesman Kyle Bandlow said in a statement.
The potential release of any chemicals in the containment ponds is just one concern that could necessitate environmental remediation once the water recedes. The historic flood also has stirred up the contaminated sediment laying at the bottom of the Tittabawassee River put there by the Dow plant that helped build the city around it. The 1,900-acre facility abuts the river, and for years dangerous dioxins contaminated it, pushing the federal government to create a Superfund site there.
“The chemicals that are there as part of the Superfund site in the river are in the sediments and they do not break down. All this flood is doing is moving those around and possibly moving those around into the flood plain,” said Allen Burton, a professor of environment and sustainability and of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Michigan. “I’m assuming Dow or the state will have to go in after and do a lot of sampling in the river and the flood plain to see if there are any pockets of contamination.”
The prospect worries Terry Miller, chairperson of the Lone Tree Council, a local environmental group that pushed for years to have the site cleaned up. Miller is now the secretary of the Saginaw-Tittabawassee Rivers Contamination Community Advisory Group created through the Superfund to allow for exchange of information between residents and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“We have been working on this damn thing for 13 years with Dow, the EPA, with the state and we are real concerned,” Miller said. His fear: That all of the work to stabilize contaminated banks ”may be literally eroded. I hope that’s not the case. I sincerely do. A lot of people and a lot of money have gone into this cleanup.”
To stabilize the banks, old soil was removed and new soil was put in, but there still are toxins deep in the soil that Miller is concerned will surface and make their way back into the river.
“This is a supreme test of the success of this stabilization and cleanup process,” he said. “And I’m worried.”
The containment pond mingling with flood waters may be less of a concern. Dow said late Wednesday that the pond is used for storm water and brine system/groundwater remediation and the material “does not create any threat to residents or environmental damage.”
“The reality is there’s a massive amount of water which means a massive amount of dilution, so in all likelihood any chemicals that escape are going to be diluted below levels of concern,” UM’s Burton said.
Additionally, Dow said there has been no reported release of chemicals from its manufacturing facilities.
Dow is working with its site tenants and Midland County officials, and has partnered with the U.S. Coast Guard to activate emergency plans. The state’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has also been “in regular contact with Dow regarding the impacts of the flood on their facilities and are ready to assist, as needed,” a department spokesman said.
Midland is where a young Herbert Henry Dow founded the Dow Chemical Co. in 1897.
Dow’s Michigan Operations now encompass a 1,900-acre manufacturing site in the city where some 3,000 people work to support 10 Dow businesses that operate 26 manufacturing plants, according to the company. The site also is home to a research and development campus.
Dow in 2019 separated from the DowDupont conglomerate; the Dow Michigan Operations Industrial Park is made of Dow facilities as well as other tenant companies.
The company makes everything from automotive materials to insecticides to polymers for food and liquid packaging materials in Midland, according to its website. Dow has numerous other facilities in the city, including a corporate center that sits on 150 acres.
Last June, the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a settlement with a Dow Silicones Corp. for the company to spend about $1.6 million on supplemental environmental projects and to pay a $4.55 million penalty to resolve several environmental violations at its Midland facility.
In November, Dow entered into an agreement with the federal, state and tribal governments to settle an environmental complaint for an estimated $77 million. The funds are to restore fish, wildlife and habitats harmed when hazardous substances were released in past decades from Dow’s manufacturing facility in Midland.
Beyond any new environmental issues at Dow’s operations caused by the flood, there is also potential contamination from overwhelmed wastewater treatment plants and likely contamination from chemicals like paint and solvents from inside people’s homes.
“All of that bad stuff is just getting moved around,” Burton said. “There will be public health concerns in any of these zones that got flooded because you never know what’s going to be there. It’s going to be important to have a good sampling after this is over.”
khall@detroitnews.com
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/2020/05/20/dow-moves-shut-down-midland-operations-amid-historic-flooding/5227509002/
May 21, 2020
Midland — Dow Inc. activated its emergency operations center at its Midland facilities Wednesday after flood waters reached historic levels and mixed with chemical plant containment ponds, raising fears of an environmental disaster. Another fear: That the deluge will stir up cancer-causing dioxins in the river downstream of the federal Superfund site.
The multinational chemicals giant headquartered in Midland temporarily shut down its operations in the Michigan Operations industrial park as the failure of two dams on the Tittabawassee River forced thousands of residents to evacuate. The company’s operating units were shut down except for facilities needed for safely managing chemical containment, company spokesman Kyle Bandlow said in a statement.
The potential release of any chemicals in the containment ponds is just one concern that could necessitate environmental remediation once the water recedes. The historic flood also has stirred up the contaminated sediment laying at the bottom of the Tittabawassee River put there by the Dow plant that helped build the city around it. The 1,900-acre facility abuts the river, and for years dangerous dioxins contaminated it, pushing the federal government to create a Superfund site there.
“The chemicals that are there as part of the Superfund site in the river are in the sediments and they do not break down. All this flood is doing is moving those around and possibly moving those around into the flood plain,” said Allen Burton, a professor of environment and sustainability and of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Michigan. “I’m assuming Dow or the state will have to go in after and do a lot of sampling in the river and the flood plain to see if there are any pockets of contamination.”
The prospect worries Terry Miller, chairperson of the Lone Tree Council, a local environmental group that pushed for years to have the site cleaned up. Miller is now the secretary of the Saginaw-Tittabawassee Rivers Contamination Community Advisory Group created through the Superfund to allow for exchange of information between residents and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“We have been working on this damn thing for 13 years with Dow, the EPA, with the state and we are real concerned,” Miller said. His fear: That all of the work to stabilize contaminated banks ”may be literally eroded. I hope that’s not the case. I sincerely do. A lot of people and a lot of money have gone into this cleanup.”
To stabilize the banks, old soil was removed and new soil was put in, but there still are toxins deep in the soil that Miller is concerned will surface and make their way back into the river.
“This is a supreme test of the success of this stabilization and cleanup process,” he said. “And I’m worried.”
The containment pond mingling with flood waters may be less of a concern. Dow said late Wednesday that the pond is used for storm water and brine system/groundwater remediation and the material “does not create any threat to residents or environmental damage.”
“The reality is there’s a massive amount of water which means a massive amount of dilution, so in all likelihood any chemicals that escape are going to be diluted below levels of concern,” UM’s Burton said.
Additionally, Dow said there has been no reported release of chemicals from its manufacturing facilities.
Dow is working with its site tenants and Midland County officials, and has partnered with the U.S. Coast Guard to activate emergency plans. The state’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has also been “in regular contact with Dow regarding the impacts of the flood on their facilities and are ready to assist, as needed,” a department spokesman said.
Midland is where a young Herbert Henry Dow founded the Dow Chemical Co. in 1897.
Dow’s Michigan Operations now encompass a 1,900-acre manufacturing site in the city where some 3,000 people work to support 10 Dow businesses that operate 26 manufacturing plants, according to the company. The site also is home to a research and development campus.
Dow in 2019 separated from the DowDupont conglomerate; the Dow Michigan Operations Industrial Park is made of Dow facilities as well as other tenant companies.
The company makes everything from automotive materials to insecticides to polymers for food and liquid packaging materials in Midland, according to its website. Dow has numerous other facilities in the city, including a corporate center that sits on 150 acres.
Last June, the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a settlement with a Dow Silicones Corp. for the company to spend about $1.6 million on supplemental environmental projects and to pay a $4.55 million penalty to resolve several environmental violations at its Midland facility.
In November, Dow entered into an agreement with the federal, state and tribal governments to settle an environmental complaint for an estimated $77 million. The funds are to restore fish, wildlife and habitats harmed when hazardous substances were released in past decades from Dow’s manufacturing facility in Midland.
Beyond any new environmental issues at Dow’s operations caused by the flood, there is also potential contamination from overwhelmed wastewater treatment plants and likely contamination from chemicals like paint and solvents from inside people’s homes.
“All of that bad stuff is just getting moved around,” Burton said. “There will be public health concerns in any of these zones that got flooded because you never know what’s going to be there. It’s going to be important to have a good sampling after this is over.”
khall@detroitnews.com
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/2020/05/20/dow-moves-shut-down-midland-operations-amid-historic-flooding/5227509002/
May 21, 2020
Tempur Sealy Opening U.S. Retail Locations and Announces Clean Shop Promise™ Protocol
LEXINGTON, Ky., May 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Tempur Sealy International, Inc. (TPX) announced today that customers and associates are welcomed back into the Company’s U.S. Tempur-Pedic and Sleep Outfitters retail stores. After temporary closures, the Company has begun opening its domestic retail stores in a phased approach in compliance with recommended safety precautions from the CDC, state and local health authorities and its Clean Shop Promise™ protocol. Tempur Sealy expects the vast majority of its approximately 160 U.S. retail locations to be open by the end of May. Some may operate with reduced hours and/or modified delivery services.
In addition to opening its Company-owned stores, the Company continues to support third-party retailers in the opening of their stores through offering its Clean Shop Promise™ protocol as a resource. The Company built upon its unique combination of robust consumer insights and global industry experience to develop a holistic set of guidelines designed to offer consumers a clean and comfortable in-store experience.
Tempur Sealy Chairman and CEO Scott Thompson commented, “One of our strengths is our powerful omni-channel distribution model, which allows us to reach consumers wherever they want to shop. We believe about 65% of the third-party retail doors will be open in the U.S. by the end of May, which is up from 40% at the end of April.”
Thompson continued, “We see consumers shopping both online and in-stores. While it is early, stores that have re-opened are generally experiencing strong closing rates with reduced traffic. As more third-party retail locations open and we leverage our Clean Shop Promise™ protocol, we expect that traffic will continue to increase as consumers seek to experience our products first-hand.”
https://seekingalpha.com/pr/17878316-tempur-sealy-opening-u-s-retail-locations-and-announces-clean-shop-promise-protocol
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