Within the last year, the industry has had more difficulties than I have come across during my 3 decades experience. In the past I have seen sharp price increases, and I have seen several shortages, and delivery delays caused by resin allocations through plastic resin companies. This is definitely the very first occasion I have seen all these issues at one time.
Polytetraflouroethylene (TFE) and Kynar both are on allocation.
The two of these resins are in short supply. The PTFE Sheet suppliers product PTFE (TFE) along with Kynar manufacturing requires a mineral called Fluorspar that is mined in Mongolia and China. The worldwide need for this mineral has grown significantly, along with the supply has tightened. PTFE materials have high heat resistance, excellent chemical resistance and really low co-efficient of friction (slick) and is used throughout tons of purposes from non-stick fry pots and pans to ptfe tape for personal use. This particular mineral is actually the key raw materials in the manufacturing of fluoropolymers, fluorolubricants and lots of refrigerants.This increase in demand linked with general shortage of raw materials has caused a dramatic price increase (almost double in the last year), shortages, and we expect both these factors to stay in affect in the near future.
