My March letter focused on the outbreak of war in the Middle East and its impact on petrochemical supply chains. Now, in late June, tankers are once again moving through the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic is gradually returning toward pre-war levels of approximately 125 ships per day, and recent volumes of nearly 19 million barrels per day are approaching normal throughput.
While shipping conditions have improved, the effects on our industry are likely to linger through the end of the year and perhaps beyond. Naphtha feedstocks remain tight across Asia, chemical exports have been delayed or constrained, inventories have been drawn down, and prices for many commodities have increased.
Since March, the Teckrez team has been tested in many ways. We implemented a sales control program to manage limited inventories, adjusted pricing to reflect changing cost realities, and intensified our sourcing efforts to ensure we could continue meeting customer needs. These conditions placed additional pressure on every part of the organization—from Operations and Sales to Finance and Supply Chain.
I am proud of how our team responded. We maintained strong On-Time, In-Full performance while avoiding any significant increase in customer or operational non-conformances. Employee engagement scores declined modestly, which is understandable given the stress associated with sales controls, allocation decisions, and price increases, but our team remained focused on serving customers and supporting one another.
Recently, a member of the Teckrez Board of Directors called to congratulate me on our performance during these challenging months. As I listened, I found myself accepting the compliment before realizing that the credit did not belong to me—it belonged to the team.
They were the ones spending late nights coordinating with suppliers around the world to keep product moving. They were the ones having difficult conversations with customers about price increases. They were the ones saying “no” when orders exceeded established sales control guidelines. They were the ones making the daily decisions that allowed us to navigate an unprecedented supply disruption while continuing to serve our customers.
One of my favorite business books is Good to Great by Jim Collins. In it, Collins describes the concept of Level 5 Leadership and uses a simple but powerful analogy: when things go wrong, great leaders look in the mirror; when things go right, they look out the window and give credit to others.
After receiving that congratulatory call, I briefly looked in the mirror. Then I remembered to look out the window at the remarkable team we have built at Teckrez.
By Marc Jackson
President & CEO, Teckrez, LLC