In the last year, the industry has had more allocations than I have seen in my thirty years experience. In the past I have seen sharp price increases, and I have experienced several shortages, and delivery issues due to resin allocations through plastic resin companies. This is actually the first instance I have seen all these issues at one time.
Polytetraflouroethylene (TFE) and Kynar - PVDF both are on allocation.
The two of these resins are in short supply. The PTFE Sheet suppliers product PTFE (TFE) along with PVDF manufacturing requires a mineral called Fluorspar that's mined in Mongolia and China. The worldwide requirement for this mineral has grown significantly, additionally, the supply has tightened. PTFE materials have high temperature resistance, excellent chemical resistance and extremely low co-efficient of friction (slippery) and is used throughout a good deal of applications from non-stick fry pans to ptfe tape for home use. This specific mineral is the key raw material in the production of fluoropolymers, fluorolubricants and many refrigerants.This surge in demand mixed with shortage of raw materials has caused a dramatic price increase (almost double throughout the last year), shortages, and we expect these two factors to continue in the near future.
When you are looking around for a plastic sheet distributor you will also want to investigate the company that you are managing to make certain that they are going to be around for a long period of time. If you are most likely to be having a lot of problems with your plastic sheet supply you are going to wish to ensure that you are going to be able to trust them to remain to supply you with the high-grade item that you have concerned anticipate, over the years.
