What caused the TFE and PVDF long lead times
Over the last year, the market has experienced more shortages than I have seen inside my three decades experience. In the past I have seen sharp price increases, and I have observed several shortages, and delivery issues stemming from resin allocations by plastic resin vendors. This is actually the first occasion I have seen all these issues at the same time. Polytetraflouroethylene (TFE) and Kynar - PVDF both are on allocation. Both of these resins are in short supply. The PTFE Sheet suppliers product PTFE (TFE) along with Kynar-PVDF manufacturing requires a mineral called Fluorspar that is mined in Mongolia and China. The worldwide need for this mineral has increased significantly, and also the supply has tightened. PTFE materials have high temperature resistance, excellent chemical resistance and extremely low co-efficient of friction (slippery) and is utilized within a bunch of applications from non-stick fry pans to ptfe tape for home use. This mineral is actually the crucial...