Facts have proved that the shortage of another product is a real pain for consumers, and this shortage is affecting multiple industries.
Foam is in short supply across the country, causing delays in the delivery of countless product categories made of filler materials, including furniture, mattresses, vehicles, boats, recreational vehicles, and electrical appliances. USA Today Report. The news media said it also had a backlog of construction and steelmaking industries.
Foams are used in everything from seats and upholstery to insulation materials and cast steel molds, and supply shortages began in February. This is due to the severe winter storm that swept the South, and five factories in the United States were closed. These factories—four in Texas and one in Louisiana—produce propylene oxide, the main chemical used to make foam.
According to USA Today, these factories were only temporarily closed for a few days, but due to flooding and power outages that damaged equipment, these equipment operated at 120% of the capacity to meet consumer demand, so it would take several weeks to resume full production.
As consumer demand for furniture, RVs, boats and cars remains strong, chemical plants have not caught up. After the pandemic, consumers are waiting for months to purchase new products in these categories and pay higher prices.
Zachary Moore, an editor and analyst at Independence Commodity Intelligence Services, a petrochemical research company, told the news media: “It makes everything messy.”
Jerry Epperson, managing director of Mann, Armistead & Epperson and EverChem Specialty Chemicals, told the United States that the furniture industry has been hit hardest because it uses a lot of foam in its products and the delay in shipments has been extended from 30 days to as long as a year. Nowadays.
Ships have been reduced to the point where dealers have almost no inventory. Compared with the previous average of two to three weeks, it takes a year to arrive. Ray Lewis, manager of Oquossoc Marine, a ship dealer in Oquossoc, Maine, told the news media that after achieving double-digit growth in 2020, sales have increased by 60%. Dealers no longer accept orders for new ships delivered this year.
The performance of recreational vehicles has not improved, because some orders take up to a year compared to the normal two to three months. According to “USA Today” reports, the delivery time of electrical appliances has increased from two to three months to six months.
Cars are suffering from a shortage of bubbles and Semiconductor chip supply interrupted, But they can get through the bottleneck better. The chip shortage that is hurting the automotive industry is due to the high demand for the technology product segment during the pandemic, as consumers picked up these devices while staying at home during the lock-in order.
But according to Cox Motors As of the end of June, there were 1.13 million unsold cars at US dealerships. This is lower than 1.78 million at the end of May and 2.24 million at the end of April.
Other product shortages affecting the U.S. include chicken supply shortages, pork, ketchup, paper, Metal, wood, chlorine, gasoline, And steel.
Photo: Starry Sky
