If it makes you feel any better ...* Today's red-hot resin prices are enough to give anyone heartburn heartburn, burning sensation beneath the breastbone, also called pyrosis. Heartburn does not indicate heart malfunction but results from nervous tension or overindulgence in food or drink. . It's pretty hard to swallow swallow, common name for small perching birds of almost worldwide distribution. There are about 100 species of swallows, including the martins, which belong to the same family. Swallows have long, narrow wings, forked tails, and weak feet. polyethylene polyethylene (pŏl'ēĕth`əlēn), widely used plastic. It is a polymer of ethylene, CH2=CH2, having the formula (-CH2-CH2-)n prices within hailing distance of a dollar a pound and polypropylene polypropylene (pŏl'ēprō`pəlēn), plastic noted for its light weight, being less dense than water; it is a polymer of propylene. It resists moisture, oils, and solvents. and polystyrene polystyrene (pŏl'ēstī`rēn), widely used plastic; it is a polymer of styrene. Polystyrene is a colorless, transparent thermoplastic that softens slightly above 100°C; (212°F;) and becomes a viscous liquid at around 185°C; from 70 cents to 80 cents a pound or more. Even PVC--a relative bargain--costs something like 60 cents to 65 cents/lb for a rigid window-profile compound. I believe these are all-time highs, not counting the period just after World War II, when I'm told polyethylene went for five bucks a pound. I have to say that I'm impressed with plastics processors' resilience resilience (r  ·zilˑ·yens),n : While facing crushing cost pressures--for materials and energy and freight, insurance, labor, etc.--they're also fighting off competition from China and trying to gain ground over traditional materials. Processors are facing today's challenges with less distress than three or four years ago when they were suffering from lack of orders. Now even though prices are way up, so is business, and the level of complaints seems lower. I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. if it's any consolation, but years ago the plastics industry achieved phenomenal growth even though prices of commodity resins were higher (in constant dollars) than today. This is the 50th anniversary year for this magazine, so I went back to 1955 to check on resin prices. As you can see by the table, the price equivalents in today's dollars are shocking. They got better--but not by a whole lot-10 years later. Even in late 1979, during the second Oil Shock, prices were less than or comparable to today's levels. When you consider how much better the resins are today, and how much more value you can get out of each pound, maybe today's prices aren't such a bad deal.
U.S. RESIN PRICES IN CURRENT DOLLARS
(Adjusted Using the "Producer Price Index for
Crude Materials for Further Processing
Price Per Pound
Resin June 1955 Oct. 1965 Dec. 1979
Polyethylene $2.25-2.96 $0.79-1.34 $0.73-0.78
Polypropylene -- $1.34-1.93 $0.65-0.80
Polystyrene $1.73-2.47 $0.70-1.40 $0.76-0.89
PVC, Rigid
Extrusion Compd. $2.06 $1.34 $0.62-0.66
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