Cray Valley Competition
Now Viewing Cray Valley's competition in: Plastic Resins & Synthetic Fibers (primary)
Call Preparation Questions
Customers, Marketing, Pricing, Competition
How large a geographical area does the company serve? - Because of the high value of many plastics, transportation costs are relatively unimportant.
How many customers does the company have? - Even a small company may have thousands of customers.
Does the company depend on a few large buyers? -
Do many of the company's customers sell to the same end-use market? - Producers often have industry concentrations.
Does the company custom-produce resins for individual customers? -
Does the company use an internal sales force, sales agents, distributors? -
How does the company find new customers? - Trade shows are an important source of new customers.
Has the company usually been able to pass cost increases to customers? - Raw material costs generally follow the price of crude oil.
Competitive Landscape
Demand depends on the level of manufacture of plastic products, which is closely linked to US industrial production. Because resin manufacture is a high-volume process, the profitability of individual companies depends on operating efficiencies. Large companies have significant economies of scale in production and in the purchase of raw materials. Smaller companies can compete effectively by producing specialty resins and fibers. Many smaller companies buy commodity resins from large producers and rework them into specialty compounds. The industry is capital-intensive: average annual revenue is about $900,000 per worker.
Full Industry Overview For Plastic Resins & Synthetic Fibers
Business Challenges
CRITICAL ISSUES
Volatile Demand - US production of products made from plastic resins can vary sharply from year to year, making demand difficult to predict. Output can change more than 10 percent from year to year for the industry as a whole, much more for individual companies. During the early 2000s recession, US resin production dropped more than 20 percent.
Volatile Raw Material Prices - Resin manufacturers can be exposed to rapid changes in raw material inventory values, and may be unable to pass cost increases to customers. The major raw materials for resin manufacture are derived from oil and natural gas, and these costs can swing sharply with the price of crude oil.
Industries Where Cray Valley Competes
- Chemicals
- Plastic & Fiber Manufacturing(primary)
