2021....Another year, another new set of challenges to overcome!

Just when we thought we were through the worst of it….along comes 2021! I mean, haven’t we dealt with enough? 2021 started out promising, vaccinations happening, hospital stays dropping, fewer and fewer Covid deaths to report. All good news! Then, February hit with one of the worst winter storms to hit the state of Texas in a very long time. Snow, ice and power outages that went on for weeks! This may have happened in Texas but it affected the entire chemical industry. With many of our largest chemical plants situated in Texas, the power outages caused millions in damage to the plants, closing them down for long periods of time. Many are still not at full capacity. The ripple effect has lead to unending price increases and product shortages. Understand that chemicals go into almost everything we use on a daily basis. For specialty chemical manufacturers such as us, one of the most difficult things we have had to endure is Force Majeure and all that entails. Force Majeure can be described as “an event - war, labor stoppages or extreme weather, that is not the fault of any party and that makes it difficult to impossible to carry out normal business.” This has lead to most contracts being cancelled and prices steadily climbing. Container costs alone have increased by over 70% with no end in sight. The raw materials we purchase to manufacture our product line are now being quoted on a daily basis. There is no such thing as a price list or firm pricing. Supply and demand issues have also lead to product allocation and very long lead times to get material once ordered. I am explaining this because I want you to understand that we would much prefer price stability, firm pricing for a minimum of a year, and being able to fill orders with little to no lead times. Those were the days! I am asking that you bear with us, that you order well enough ahead to be able to stand the possibility of a lengthened lead time. That you understand we are not being greedy when we have to increase pricing. Most of us are cutting our margins and splitting these increases with you! We will get through this just as we did in 2020. I am hopeful that by 4th quarter 2021 to early 2022 we will begin to see stability once again. As always, we will continue to work with you to get you what you need to maintain a clean, sanitary and healthy environment. Please call us with any of your questions and/or concerns.