Over the last year, the industry has had more allocations than I have seen inside my three decades experience. In the past I have seen sharp price increases, and I have seen several shortages, and delivery issues on account of plastic resin allocations from resin vendors. This is definitely the first occasion I have seen all these issues at the same time.

PTFE (TFE) and Kynar – PVDF are both on allocation.

The two of these resins are in short supply. The  PTFE Sheeting product PTFE (TFE) along with PVDF  manufacturing requires a mineral called Fluorspar that is mined in Mongolia and China. The world demand for this mineral has increased significantly, as well as the supply has tightened. PTFE materials have high heat resistance, excellent chemical resistance and incredibly low co-efficient of friction (slick) and is used in a good deal of purposes from non-stick fry kitchenware to ptfe tape for use at home. This particular mineral is the important raw material in the production of fluoropolymers, fluorolubricants and many refrigerants.This rise in demand linked with general shortage of raw materials is mainly responsible for a dramatic price increase (almost double within the past year), shortages, and we expect both these factors to keep at it in the near future.

HDPE sheet