The fluoropolymers working group of the German association for semi-finished plastics and consumer products, pro-K (Frankfurt; www.pro-kunststoff.de) has warned of increasing feedstock costs. Findings from its latest industry survey again indicate high double-digit price growth rates for S-PTFE (suspension) as well as E-PTFE (emulsion/paste). The association confirms Plasteurope.com’s report from March 2018 – see Plasteurope.com of 15.03.2018. The working group last raised a similar alert in August 2017 – see Plasteurope.com of 30.08.2017.

Word from Frankfurt is that the fluoropolymers market will continue to suffer from scarce supply in 2018. The main reason lies in the limited utilisation of capacities in China, where massively increased environmental requirements have cut back production. Allocation regimes and prolonged delivery periods are increasingly dominating the situation. Chances for short-term improvement are also slim, according to the pro-K working group, and despite the bottleneck, demand is strong – thanks to a thriving economic situation in the application markets for fluoropolymers and other fluorine derivatives.

“The signs of the times are long-term resource planning and, where possible, re-engineering of existing production processes with the objective of a more sustainable use of feedstocks,” said Michael Schlipf, chairman of the fluoropolymers group.