Pricing and Purchasing Webcast: Downside Risks Weigh Heavily on the Pricing Outlook

John Mothersole

Principal, Industry Practices Group

Mothersole is a Principal in the Industry Practices Group, where he is the nonferrous metals analyst. He also helps supervise the Pricing and Purchasing Service's price and wage forecasts and the construction cost and operation and maintenance costs forecasts prepared by the group's Power Planner Service. He has a graduate degree in economics from the University of Maryland.

Howard Rappaport

Senior Director, Plastics - IHS Chemical

Howard joined CMAI in August 1999. Prior to joining CMAI he had over 20 years of experience in the plastics and polymers industry, holding various management positions in commercial development, business management, product management, sales/marketing, and customer service. Company affiliations included: American Hoechst, Huntsman Chemical, Webster Industries, Cain Chemical, Occidental Chemical, Himont- Montell Polyolefins and Westlake Polymers. He has extensive experience with numerous thermoplastic materials, fabricating processes, and markets, including LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE, PP, PS, EPS, Nylon, UHMW, and PTFE. Howard has also been involved in the business planning, and commercial development of major start-ups of new capacity in the polyolefins business, as well as spearheading several cross functional business teams consisting of R&D, manufacturing, sales/marketing and technical service. Howard has been an active member in the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE), the Flexible Packaging Association (FPA), the Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI), the American Plastics Council (APC) and the Film and Bag Federation (FBF).

Howard is responsible for CMAI’s Global Commodity & Engineering Plastics practice and manages global polyolefin's coverage. He collaborates with CMAI’s Asian, Middle East and European offices to contribute to the Global Plastics & Polymers Report, Monomers Market Report, World Polyolefins Analysis, and World Light Olefins Analysis, as well as various single client studies for CMAI’s Business Advisory Services.

Paul Robinson

Senior Economist, Pricing and Purchasing Group, IHS Global Insight

Paul Robinson is an economist in the IHS Global Insight Pricing and Purchasing group. He is a graduate of the George Washington University, where he earned a BA in economics and international affairs with a concentration in international economics.  He currently works in the ferrous metals division, specializing in raw materials and assisting on the Steel Monthly, Steel Industry Review and Weekly Pricing Pulse publications.

Paul has spoken about commodities at a number of conferences, including IHS conferences in Monterrey, Mexico (Commodities Outlook: Will Renewed Economic Growth Bring Higher Costs? ) and Mexico City, Mexico (Commodities Outlook: Purchasing Strategies for 2011), as well as the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE) conference in Anaheim, CA (Economic Risks To Consider Before Bidding Your Next Contract).