Friday, February 26, 2021
The Adhesive and Sealant Council (ASC) is closely monitoring the unprecedented disruption to the supply of many key intermediates essential to U.S. adhesive manufacturing. The disruption has been caused by severe weather and subsequent infrastructure failures in mid-February, resulting in petrochemical facility shutdowns and force majeures in the Texas Gulf Coast.

Of the 5.9 million barrels per day of refining capacity impacted, approximately 4.2 mb/d has or is restarted or is fully back online. Nevertheless, resuming full, pre-event supply and production after such a massive disruption will take time. While a weather event of the magnitude experienced last week in Texas and surrounding states may only last for a few days, supply chains and inventories can take weeks or even months to recover. ASC members and suppliers to the industry report that for many key raw materials and product lines, inventories were already tight with demand exceeding available supplies even prior to the weather event. Additionally, growth in demand on transportation infrastructure, equipment and drivers/manpower, will continue to present challenges to member companies and their supply chain partners as the industry recovers from this event.

Bill Allmond, President of ASC said, “Our member companies severely impacted by this historic crisis continue to service and communicate with their customers the best possible way amid this enormous challenge. With a dozen intermediate chemical producers declaring force majeure and approximately 20 additional facilities shutdown or gradually reopening, there is a shortage of key intermediates necessary for adhesive production. ASC urges close collaboration between all parties adversely impacted to minimize additional disruption. Communication from suppliers with their manufacturer customers is critical.”

To assist ASC member companies in need of fulfilling their supply commitments, ASC has created a Crisis Recovery Program to facilitate member-to-member assistance. We strongly encourage ASC members in a position to assist those in need of key intermediates to visit www.ascouncil.org/page/crisis-recovery-program and volunteer while strictly abiding by antitrust and trade regulation laws. If you are an ASC member in need, please visit this website to find out which ASC members may be able to provide assistance.

ASC will update member companies on this developing situation.

For more information, visit the ASC news item here.