We’ve all read the letters, seen the news, and watched as raw materials of all kinds go on allocation or worse, become scarce for the foreseen future. One such raw material is resin, the fundamental component of plastic. We’re seeing prices of resin rise as demand remains steady, and supplies decrease.

Helping us understand why, Berry Global, a worldwide manufacturing leader of plastic-based products, chimes in with a simple, and effective summary. Here’s what they had to say about resin price increases:

“Multiple events have collided over the past three quarters, including but not limited to the following:

• Resin manufacturers utilizing Force Majeure, greatly restricting the flow of resin
• Widespread resin production shutdowns, issues due to hurricanes, weather fluctuations, COVID and fires
• Delays in anticipated US resin capacity additions
• High global demand for resins
• Decreased shipping/freight options force higher freight rates
• Imports: soaring ocean freight rates from Asia, displaced shipping containers
• Domestic: Increased costs and demand for carriers”

We’ll be talking with Berry Global further as we dive deeper into supply, demand, and sustainability of plastics over the next few weeks. Stay tuned!