Shortage of raw materials for the adhesives and sealants industry

16 March 2021

Plant shutdowns in Europe and the USA, as well as severely limited sea and land freight capacities, are affecting the availability of raw materials for the adhesives and sealants industry.

With currently a good demand for adhesives and sealants, the industry is confronted with supply bottlenecks for key raw materials as well as for specialty chemicals as a result of plant shutdowns at some European and US chemical manufacturers.

Even before the plant shutdowns, the availability of key raw materials was limited. The onset of winter in the southern states of the USA is now exacerbating the situation as it has led to the loss of a large part of US refinery capacity as well as chemical production there.

As a result, the supply chains of the European adhesives and sealants industry are also affected. According to estimates by the US Adhesives Association (ASC), it will take weeks to months before the supply chains in and out of the USA are restored. In addition, the industry is confronted with long transport times and limited availability of sea and land freight.

You can find this alert also on the FEICA website at: https://www.feica.eu/information-center/all-information-centre, or in PDF format.


Written by: Lorna Williams

Copyright: FEICA