www.coloradoan.com
It's utterly amazing how much this sounds like the oil crisis. Down to the requisite upbeat conclusion that the situation won't last forever.
T
PeakOil is You
Peak Carpet Padding?
16 posts
• Page 1 of 1
Peak Carpet Padding?
by turtleT » Mon 19 Jun 2006, 11:46:35
- turtleT
- Peat
- Posts: 51
- Joined: Wed 16 Mar 2005, 04:00:00
- Location: United States
Re: Peak Carpet Padding?
by SoothSayer » Mon 19 Jun 2006, 12:34:23
Weird.
I suspect that we'll get lots of this sort of thing over the next years.
The world will become a tattier, shabbier place in slow motion.
However at some point when a couple of these "minor" problems interact we will end up with something which stops trains running, or stops antisepetics being made or something equally annoying.
I suspect that we'll get lots of this sort of thing over the next years.
The world will become a tattier, shabbier place in slow motion.
However at some point when a couple of these "minor" problems interact we will end up with something which stops trains running, or stops antisepetics being made or something equally annoying.
Technology will save us!
-
SoothSayer - Heavy Crude
- Posts: 1167
- Joined: Thu 02 Mar 2006, 04:00:00
- Location: England
Re: Peak Carpet Padding?
by turtleT » Mon 19 Jun 2006, 14:47:44
For those that don't want to read the whole article, here are some tidbit quotes. What I find fascinating is not so much the subject, but the wording of the piece. It's as if they already have a template to use when oil shortages become obvious.
Price Increases due to supply:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ') Price increases could add hundreds of dollars to the cost of new construction and recarpeting jobs.
Shirley Beliveaux, manufacturer sales representative for Foamex, said she's never seen anything like the current shortage in her 28 years in the business.
Price Increases due to supply:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ') Price increases could add hundreds of dollars to the cost of new construction and recarpeting jobs.
Shirley Beliveaux, manufacturer sales representative for Foamex, said she's never seen anything like the current shortage in her 28 years in the business.
Timeframe:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '"')My sources say it could be this way through the end of the year or longer," said Beliveaux. "There's no light at the end of the tunnel."
Reasoning or Blame:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'D')epending on whom you talk to, blame for the shortage and the associated price hikes can be attributed to myriad factors, including the booming economy in China, a shift in European construction tastes, rising petroleum costs and the long-lasting effects of Hurricane Katrina.
Surprise:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'E')xcept for seasonal fluctuations, the markets for trim and rebond pad have been relatively stable since the '70s. Last fall, the market took a big hit.
"The trigger was Katrina," said Ken Thompsen, vice president of the carpet cushion division of Carpenter Co. "Katrina wiped out several chemical manufacturers that produce the chemicals needed to make polyurethane foam. That sent the whole industry into a tailspin."
China (of course!):
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A') shortage of trim already existed because manufacturers of products that use foam were rapidly moving operations to China and other Asian countries. China, historically an exporter of trim foam to the United States, now utilizes the majority domestically, and has drastically reduced exports to the U.S.
Price Gouging:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')ll of this leaves the U.S. rebond market in a world of hurt. As the price of rebond increases, accusations of price gouging are flying - something Thompsen takes issue with.
To pass or not to pass those prices increases on...
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')hose price increases have now percolated to the retail level. ... At first, many dealers absorbed the cost increases, believing they were temporary. Now, with rationing inevitable, dealers have little choice but to raise prices and begin steering customers in other directions.
Little businesses hurt first:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'â')€śSmaller dealers are already not receiving their shipments, because the distributors are trying to keep the big guys happy. Next week, I don’t know if we’ll get any pad. We now understand that this could be the end of rebond as a product.”
