In the last year, the industry has experienced more difficulties than I have come across around my 30 years experience. In the past I have seen sharp price increases, and I have seen several shortages, and delivery problems caused by material allocations coming from plastic resin suppliers. This is definitely the very first time I have seen all these issues at the same time.
Polytetraflouroethylene (TFE) and Kynar are both on allocation.
This pair of resins are in short supply. The PTFE Sheeting product PTFE (TFE) and Kynar manufacturing requires a mineral called Fluorspar that is mined in Mongolia and China. The worldwide need for this mineral has risen significantly, additionally, the supply has tightened. PTFE materials have high heat resistance, excellent chemical resistance and really low co-efficient of friction (slick) and is utilised within a great deal of purposes from non-stick fry kitchenware to ptfe tape for home use. This particular mineral is a important raw materials in the production of fluoropolymers, fluorolubricants and a lot of refrigerants.This escalating demand bundled with general shortage of raw materials is mainly responsible for a dramatic price increase (almost double over the past year), shortages, and we expect these two factors to continue in the near future.