Newsletter – March 2018

The metals remain strong. Zinc is now at an eleven-year high. We haven’t seen any discussion that this trend up is going to stop. This impacts Zinc Sulfate and Zinc Oxide. We remain tight on Zinc Sulfate however we have product for all our customers. Zinc Oxide pricing can change weekly due to the high concentration of zinc and the volatile zinc market.

Copper metal continues to trade in a range of $3.00-3.25 per pound for pure metal. Although this remains a three-year high, prior to that period $3.00 per pound copper was the norm for a six-year period. The pain is the period when it rises to get back to those levels. We would expect over $3.00 copper to remain however the recent trading in a range has allowed Copper Sulfate prices to stabilize. Chem One has all your Copper Sulfate needs for water treatment, fertilizer, and industrial applications.  Go to www.chemone.com to see all available grades.

We continue to see increases in other commodity prices although the increases seem to be slowing. The increases have been due to freight, raw materials, and environmental regulatory changes in China.

By now everyone knows the situation with freight in the U.S. Plan early and expect higher rates this year compared to last year. We don’t see this getting better any time soon as the industry works though few drivers, ELD, and increased demand.

The program must be renewed periodically to continue and the last expiration date was Dec 31, 2017. That date came and went without renewal. Therefore, tariffs must be added to the cost of imports from affected counties on affected products.

Products affected that are handled by Chem One are Citric Acid from Thailand, Sulfamic Acid from Indonesia, Sodium Hexametaphosphate from Kazakhstan, Sodium Sulfite from Thailand, Sodium Formate from Turkey and Sodium Nitrite from India. We look forward to the US Government renewing this program.

Submission of Tier II form is required under Section 312 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA). The purpose of this form is to provide State, local officials, and the public with specific information on potential hazards. This includes the locations, as well as the amount, of hazardous chemicals present at your facility during the previous calendar year.

Some states may have specific requirements for reporting and submission of the Tier II inventory form and/or the state reporting form or format. EPA suggests that facilities contact their state for state specific reporting requirements.

Texas reporting is due March 1st, a new reporting system for Texas was originally set for roll out with this reporting year however due to Hurricane Harvey is was pushed back until April 2018 for next year’s submission.  This change will include the update to GHS and its hazard categories which other states may already be using.

EPA developed a cross-walk in coordination with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to assist facilities in comparing OSHA’s original physical and health hazards and the new physical and health hazards adopted from the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS).