The Urethane Blog
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
February 19, 2024
Olin taps LyondellBasell executive Lane as new President/CEO, succeeding Sutton
Feb. 19, 2024 8:14 PM ETOlin Corporation (OLN) StockLYBBy: Carl Surran, SA News Editor
Olin (NYSE:OLN) said Monday it named LyondellBaseel (LYB) executive Kenneth Lane as its new President and CEO effective March 18, when Scott Sutton will step down from those positions; no explanation was given for Sutton’s departure.
Lane was Executive VP of Global Olefins and Polyolefins at LyondellBasell (LYB), which he joined in 2019 after serving BASF for 13 years and holding executive positions across a wide range of businesses including Polyurethanes, Monomers and Catalysts; previously, he had spent time at BP Chemicals and Amoco Chemical.
Kim Foley will assume Lane’s previous role at LyondellBasell (LYB) after serving as Senior VP of Global Engineering, Turnarounds and Health, Safety and Environment.
February 18, 2024
Buy a Refrigerator in 1926 (Click on the link to see a short from the silent screen era)
[Theater commercial–electric refrigerators]. Buy an electric refrigerator
Video Player
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No polyethylene food wrap back then! My Grandfather sold appliances to local stores as an employee of the electric company in Iowa. It was a pull through to get more people using electricity. Times have changed!
Enjoy
February 18, 2024
Today’s Topics Hello! In years gone by a game of golf, a bike ride or a dog walk might have topped the list of potential Sunday activities. But, today, hundreds of thousands of people across America are increasingly turning to pickleball, the racket sport that’s still taking America by storm. Boredom, the mother of invention
Tracing its roots all the way back to 1965 when it was invented by a group of 3 dads who couldn’t find a shuttlecock to play badminton on a summer’s day, pickleball has had a slow-then-fast-then-really–fast rise in America. On that day in Washington nearly 60 years ago, the trio improvised with what they had: table tennis paddles, a plastic ball, and a badminton court — a combination that, once the net was lowered a few feet, proved an entertaining and accessible game to a variety of ages and abilities.
From those humble beginnings, it took the sport decades to really capture people’s interest, spreading organically across America, eventually being played in every state by 1990. But, cut to the present day, and pickleball has taken the US by storm: according to the Sport & Fitness Industry Association, 8.9 million players played the sport in 2022, up more than 80% on the prior year, making it the fastest growing sport in America. 
Serving everyone
Arguably the main driver of pickleball’s popularity boom is its low-commitment versatility. Thanks to its perforated ball — which slows the game down — and smaller court, pickleball demands less raw athletic ability than many other sports, giving it a broad appeal, with many kids and seniors picking up the game.
In 2021, almost 73% of all record pickleball participants were ‘casual’ players who played fewer than 7x per year. In that same year, roughly 29% of pickleball players were aged 18-34 years old, while 21% were kids, ~20% were 35-54, and a whopping ~18% were 65+ — an astonishingly even demographic split for an increasingly mainstream sport. Out of those who play the most frequently, the older demographic was the dominant force, accounting for nearly one-third of that “core” player group.
Space invaders
Played on a badminton-size court, pickleball can be played indoors or outdoors, standing up or in wheelchairs, and it’s relatively space-efficient. In fact — much to the chagrin of die-hard tennis players everywhere (including Chartr’s editor) — you can nearly squeeze playing space for 4 pickleball courts in the same area needed for 1 tennis court.
To meet the booming demand, the SFIA estimates that a further 25,000 pickleball courts — equating to a $900m infrastructure investment — are needed to keep up with demand, on top of the ~44,000 courts that are estimated to already exist nationwide.
Check the rules
As the sport continues to pick up momentum at both a grassroots and professional level (yes, there are a lot of pro pickleball tournaments now), people are increasingly flocking to the first online port of call when you want a quick summary of something you’d never heard of until recently: Wikipedia.
It wasn’t until the Covid era when the paddle sport really ratcheted up in earnest. Since then, as pickleball’s grown into a bonafide passion for millions of people — rather than a faddy pandemic pastime (looking at you, breadmaking and online yoga) — page views on the sport’s Wikipedia page have soared, as curious players look up the rules, the sport’s history and why on Earth it’s called pickleball (nothing to do with pickles and everything to do with… rowing). Hits to the Wikipedia page even surpassed those of tennis in 2020, according to data from Pageviews.
Brokeback
Although the game can be enjoyed by all ages, pickleball is not without its risks. As its popularity has skyrocketed, so too have pickleball-related injuries: the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons recently reported that bone fractures resulting from pickleball have increased 90x over the last 20 years, the majority of which resulted from falls in the 60-69 age group.
That may put a strain on doctors in Utah, Arizona, Minnesota and Florida, where data from Google Trends reveals search interest in pickleball has been the highest over the past 12 months.
Big pickle
It’s fair to say that the Super Bowl isn’t under threat as the jewel in corporate America’s sporting crown, but pickleball is increasingly big business. Manufacturers of pickleball equipment are selling hundreds of millions of dollars worth of paddles, shoes and apparel every year, while developers are eyeing up unused retail space, spending millions to convert them into prestige pickleball playing spaces around the country.
As the pro scene begins to take off, a battle for pickle supremacy has been quietly taking place between rival leagues. Last September two of the biggest — Major League Pickleball and the PPA Tour — announced a merger, with private equity investors injecting $50m into the combined venture.
Although prize funds at most pro events remain relatively small, top players can reportedly make 7 figures from sponsorship deals, prize money and appearance fees.
Love it or hate it, we haven’t had peak pickleball yet.
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February 15, 2024
Panama Canal Traffic By Shipment Category And Tonnage
by Tyler Durden
Wednesday, Feb 07, 2024 – 11:35 PM
Daily Panama Canal traffic has been steadily restricted to start the year, with an expected peak reduction of over 40% by February 2024 due to severe drought. The problem is already affecting supply chains for U.S. and Asian importers.
In the graphic below, Visual Capitalist’s Omri Wallach illustrates the number of shipping crossings by market segment at the Canal and the net tonnage carried during the Annual Fiscal 2023 (October 2022 to September 2023). Data is from the Panama Canal Authority.
About the Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is an artificial 82-kilometer (51-mile) waterway that connects the Pacific Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean, built between 1904 and 1914.
The Canal locks at each end lift ships to Gatun Lake, an artificial freshwater lake 26 meters (85 ft) above sea level. The shortcut dramatically reduces the time for ships to travel between the two oceans, enabling them to avoid the route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage or Strait of Magellan.
The Panama Canal moves roughly $270 billion worth of cargo annually–it’s the trade route taken by 40% of all U.S. container traffic alone and handles about 5% of all global maritime trade.
The Driest October in 70 Years
Last October, however, Panama received 41% less rainfall than usual, leading to the driest October in 70 years in what was supposed to be Panama’s rainy season, bringing the level of the Gatun Lake almost six feet below where it was a year ago. Additionally, infrastructure constraints led the Panama Canal Authority to restrict the number of ships that could pass each day.
The principal commodity groups carried through the Canal are motor vehicles, petroleum products, grains, coal, and coke.
According to the Panama Canal Authority, most of its traffic came from containers and dry bulk like soybeans. The world’s largest operator of chemical tankers (Stolt-Nielsen) typically also uses the Canal. However, due to the drought and the backup at the crossing, the operator has decided to reroute its fleet to the Suez Canal.
Although representing the smaller number of crossings, the Canal is also an important route for passengers, with many ocean cruise lines offering popular Panama Canal itineraries that sail through the Canal in the approximately 8-hour passage to their next destination in the opposite ocean.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/panama-canal-traffic-shipment-category-and-tonnage
February 11, 2024
US Trade With Mexico Surges To No. 1 Position
by Tyler Durden
Thursday, Feb 08, 2024 – 10:05 PM
Mexico was the biggest trade partner of the U.S. in 2023 and the biggest source of the country’s imports ahead of China.
As Statista’s Katharina Buchhoz details below, trade with Mexico – both imports and exports – totaled close to $800 billion last year as efforts to source closer to home and reduce dependence on China are ongoing in the U.S. and other Western countries.
The U.S. has also intensified trade with its neighbor to the North.
Canada is currently the country’s top 2 trade partner and top 3 source of imports, only slightly behind China for the latter metric.
Trade with two more close allies, Japan and Germany, also grew over the last couple of years.
You will find more infographics at Statista
China has traditionally bought fewer goods from the U.S. than Mexico and Canada so when its imports to the U.S. dropped last year, so did its overall trade balance with its North American partner.
China was the biggest trade partner of the U.S. between 2015 and 2018.
Canada and Mexico then became top partners at the height of the U.S.-China trade war in 2019.
2020 and the outbreak of the coronavirus caused a trade slump in the U.S. and saw China reemerge as the country’s biggest partner since the pandemic affected it only from a later date.
When the pandemic subsided in 2022 and 2023 and critique of China soared, first Canada and then Mexico got ahead, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/us-trade-mexico-surges-no-1-position
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