PROTECTING THE OIL SUPPLY

Nigeria is the fourth largest supplier of oil to the United States. That supply is always at risk as the Associated Press reported last week....


Royal Dutch Shell said it shut down production from an offshore oil field that produces about 200,000 barrels per day after the most powerful militant group in Nigeria launched an attack on an installation there Thursday. Oil prices rose in Asia on the news, which raised concerns about possible supply outages in Africa’s largest oil producer.

The group also said it captured an American worker on a supply vessel in the area of the rig.A leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta told The Associated Press that militants attacked the Bonga oil field more than 85 miles from land. But the fighters weren’t able to enter a computer control room, which they had hoped to destroy.The militant leader spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid punishment by authorities. “The location for today’s attack was deliberately chosen to remove any notion that off-shore oil exploration is far from our reach,” the group said in a subsequent statement. “The oil companies and their collaborators do not have any place to hide in conducting their nefarious activities.”

Olav Ljosne, a spokesman for Royal Dutch Shell, confirmed an attack, but gave no details. He said production had been stopped from the field, which normally produces about 200,000 barrels of crude per day. That accounts for about 10 percent of Nigeria’s current daily output of about 2 million barrels per day production — already significantly off the amount produced before years of militant attacks on crucial oil infrastructure.

The turmoil in Nigeria’s south has helped send oil prices to historical heights, giving the militants more leverage in their drive to force the federal government to send more oil industry proceeds to their areas. Despite being the home of almost all of Nigeria’s petroleum reserves, the country’s south is as desperately poor as the rest of the country, which is Africa’s most populous with 140 million people. But criminality and militancy are closely linked, with many of the militant groups accused of stealing crude oil from wells and pipelines for sale in overseas market and helping politicians rig elections.



Confer Plastics has been called upon to inhibit the attacks on the oil infrastructure in Nigeria. In an earlier blog post we mentioned how a product we manufacture -- the Whisprwave -- is used to protect the Port of Los Angeles. Well, the picture below shows a portion of two shipments of Whisprwaves heading to Nigeria next week that will be put to use in keeping terrorists and militants away from oil delivery systems.

PLASTIC GOING UP, UP, UP

Plastics are a carbon-based compound, so, as you see oil, gasoline, and home heating fuel going up in price, you can count on plastics doing the same. At the end of 2007 a pound of material cost us about 57 cents. Now, that same pound costs us 75 cents...a 32% increase. Being that most of what we manufacture are large parts (10 pounds and over) this is a significant cost factor for us and the customers whom we must pass that on to.

Today, it is reported that plastics will be going up even more. The following briefing is courtesy of the National Association of Manufacturers:


Dow Chemical to raise prices by as much as 25 percent.

The New York Times (6/25, Bhattarai) reports that, on Tuesday, Dow Chemical announced "it was raising prices for the second time in a month to offset a 'relentless rise' in energy costs, a sign that companies may increasingly have to pass on price increases to their customers." The increases will amount to "as much as 25 percent -- the largest in the company's history." In May, Dow increased prices by 20 percent, but "the company said [that] did not go far enough given the continuing surge in energy prices."

The price increases will take effect on July 1, according to the Wall Street Journal (6/25, B3, Kardos, subscription required), and will include "new freight surcharges," as Dow idles "certain plants and plans to sell its automotive-paint-sealer business. It will also cut 200 more jobs, bringing the total to 1,200 since November."

Dow CEO Andrew Liveris noted "that prices for energy and oil and natural-gas derivatives have surged by 30 percent since last year," the Detroit News (6/25, Shepardson) reports. Liveris said, "The staggering increase in our costs over the past few months have forced us to take these further measures in order to restore our margins."

The AP (6/25, Prichard) adds that the company said "that leaders in Washington must immediately create a comprehensive energy policy that includes more domestic drilling for oil and natural gas, more money for alternative energy research, and greater emphasis on efficient energy use."

Bloomberg (6/25, Kaskey) points out that some analysts fear these rising prices will eventually "win[d] up in the lap of the consumer," and are "going to eventually filter through to those core inflation numbers." While "Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has [also] voiced concerns about inflation and the slumping dollar," Bloomberg points out that "all 101 economists in a Bloomberg News survey said the Federal Open Market Committee will keep the benchmark lending rate unchanged at two percent at the conclusion of a two-day meeting tomorrow. Raising rates may exacerbate the U.S. economic slowdown."

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (6/25, Barrett), Wisconsin manufacturers are using "a mix of strategies" to adapt to the price changes, "including raising prices, replacing the plastic they use with alternatives, or reducing the amount of plastic content altogether." Chuck Hamley, president of Advanced Extrusions Inc., a plastics manufacturer in Wisconsin, explained that "[w]hen raw-materials prices rise dramatically, there's a race to synchronize supplies, costs, and promises to customers" He noted that "it's a belt-tightening exercise that can result in lower profits."

WATCH OUT FOR CHINESE RIP-OFFS

It has been said that you can consider it flattery when a competitor copies your design.

That it may be, but it’s also frustrating. Stealing one’s intellectual property is very bad business, completely unethical, and it’s upsetting to a company like ours that is always fair and on the up-and-up.

Late in 2007, one of our competitors copied almost to a “t” both our Step-1 pool step and our 8000 ladder. Below is a photograph of our step, which we introduced in 1998.

Here is the step -- the “Easy Step” -- introduced by competitor John Bonelli (under the company names of "Island Recreational" and "The Asia Connection"). Note how blatant of a rip-off it is. The only changes in design versus ours are the spindled uprights (ours are straight) and the connection points where the steps connect to the walls (the only item that was patented in our design).

So, be careful out in the marketplace if someone tries to pass these steps off as Confer products. They’re not. The competition’s quality is much lower, their steps are much weaker, and their products are made in China.

If you see someone advertising the rip-offs as Confer Plastics steps, please contact Bob Confer at bob@conferplastics.com

PROTECTING OUR PORTS

We manufacture for one of our clients a device called the Whisprwave. Orginally intended as a breakwater, this item found a new use in this age of global terrorism. It's used as a floating barrier to keep small boats rigged with explosives from approaching and doing damage to battleships, docks, and oil rigs. A 5,000 ft. long Whisprwave system was recently put to use at the port of Los Angeles in a terrorism drill. Watch the TV news story below....

CONFER PLASTICS IN THE BUFFALO NEWS

Last week the Buffalo News ran a front page expose on the New york Power Authority, citing the following...


Even though high utility rates are blamed for hurting the local economy, one-fifth of the low-cost power generated at the state power project in Lewiston and earmarked for local industry has gone unused by area businesses over the past four years, a Buffalo News investigation has found.

Instead of helping the local economy, the cheap power has been sold by the New York Power Authority for an estimated $161 million and used mostly to subsidize businesses outside the region and fund authority operations statewide, The News found.

What’s more, profits at the Niagara Power Project more than tripled the past four years. The Lewiston facility once accounted for a quarter of the profits generated at the 18 power plants the authority operates. But thanks to the explosion in profits — nearly $1 million every other day — the Niagara River facility last year provided nearly two-thirds of profits generated by authority plants statewide.



Confer Plastics was featured in this story which included a photo of our factory...

....business owners who tried unsuccessfully to get hydropower from the authority voiced frustration over the surplus.

Bob Confer, vice president of Confer Plastics in North Tonawanda, said his company approached the authority last year, seeking an increase in its 300-kilowatt allocation. The company employs about 130 people to manufacture molded plastics for industry, the military and consumer products, and was trying to cut its electricity bills.

Confer’s bills average 11.5 cents per kilowatt, more than double the rates paid by his major competitors in Ohio. The authority turned down the request, saying the company’s application didn’t meet the program’s criteria.

“This is quite frustrating,” Confer said after being told of the authority’s unused power.

“It seems to me the state tends to bend over backwards to serve the new companies coming into New York but does nothing for those already here.”



To read the article in its entirety, visit the Buffalo News at:

http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/365785.html?imw=Y