The Urethane Blog
June 3, 2026
Supply Squeeze Deepens as BASF, Covestro, and Huntsman Issue Price Increases in North America
June 2, 2026 3 min read
BASF, Covestro, and Huntsman each issued price increase letters in the final week of May 2026, citing supply constraints and cost escalation. Increases range from $0.22 to $0.35/lb and take effect immediately or as contracts allow.
Spot trading for polymeric MDI (PMDI) and monomeric MDI (MMDI) in the US remained at elevated levels through the fourth week of May 2026, with supply tightness driving upward price renegotiations heading into June. Three major North American MDI producers issued formal price increase notices within eight days of each other.
PRICE INCREASES — LATE MAY 2026
| Supplier | Date Issued | Increase | Effective |
| Huntsman All MDI products, N. & S. America | 22 May 2026 | +$0.24/lb | Immediately |
| Covestro LLC All MDI products, all segments, North America | 28 May 2026 | +$0.22/lb | 1 July 2026 |
| BASF All Lupranate® MDI products | 29 May 2026 | +$0.35/lb | Immediately |
COVESTRO
Covestro declared force majeure on all North American MDI products on 19 May, citing unforeseen production issues. The disruption is linked to CO/chlorine feed problems at an Air Products CO unit. Resolution is uncertain; ICIS projects an end in June, while market participants have flagged July as more likely. The company’s price increase of $0.22/lb is effective 1 July or as contracts allow.
HUNTSMAN
Huntsman raised MDI prices by $0.24/lb across North and South America effective immediately, and extended order lead times to three weeks from confirmation. The Geismar, Louisiana facility is running two of three production trains during a scheduled maintenance window expected to last three to four weeks. Huntsman stated that pricing will be reviewed monthly going forward.
BASF
BASF issued a $0.35/lb increase on all Lupranate® MDI products effective immediately, noting this is in addition to any previously announced adjustments. BASF is planning a 45-day MDI production turnaround in July, which market participants have associated with pre-commissioning work for a planned 200,000-tonne/year capacity addition in the US, targeted for Q3 2026. Further price adjustments were not ruled out.
MARKET CONTEXT
Some suppliers have moved away from formal monthly price letters toward shorter renegotiation cycles, with adjustments occurring as frequently as every two weeks. Pre-buying of drummed PMDI, particularly in the spray foam segment, has complicated demand assessments. Polyols remain in limited supply, constraining finished B-side system availability. Upward price pressure is expected to persist through June given the concurrent nature of planned and unplanned outages across the producer base.
Pricing communication practices have shifted notably across the North American MDI supply chain. Several suppliers have moved away from formal monthly price letters, opting instead for shorter, informal renegotiation cycles — in some cases as frequently as every two weeks. This reflects the pace at which upstream cost conditions are moving and signals that contract pricing mechanisms are struggling to keep up with spot market realities. On the demand side, assessing true end-use consumption has become difficult. Active pre-buying of drummed PMDI — concentrated in the spray foam insulation segment — has pulled forward volume that would ordinarily appear in June and July order books, inflating near-term apparent demand while masking the underlying consumption rate. As building construction activity picks up seasonally, the gap between stocked inventory and actual requirements will become clearer, though by that point spot availability may have tightened further. Finished B-side system availability remains constrained. Polyols, which are in limited regional supply, are the primary bottleneck; systems houses and spray foam contractors are reporting difficulty securing complete formulated systems, not just isocyanate. This dynamic is compounding procurement challenges for downstream buyers who cannot substitute MDI independently of the polyol component.
Looking ahead, upward price pressure is expected to carry through June and into Q3. The concurrent nature of planned turnarounds — Huntsman’s Geismar maintenance, BASF’s 45-day July outage — and the unresolved Covestro force majeure leave little margin for supply recovery before peak seasonal demand arrives. Buyers operating without contract volume protections are most exposed.
June 2, 2026
Berkshire Buys Taylor Morrison For $6.8 Billion In First Big Deal Under Greg Abel
by Tyler Durden
Sunday, May 31, 2026 – 05:40 PM
Less than a month after we mused at Berkshire’s most recent cash hoard which as of March 31 stood just shy of $400 billion, and wondered who Warren Buffett’s replacement Greg Abel will acquire first…
… we got the answer on Sunday afternoon, when Berkshire announced it will acquire homebuilder Taylor Morrison Home Corp. in an all-cash deal worth about $6.8 billion. Which means that after the deal, Berkshire still has $390 billion in T-bills collecting about 3.5%.
The offer of $72.50 per common share represents a 24% premium to the home builder’s latest closing price on Friday. The deal is expected to close in the second half of this year.
Taylor Morrison is one of the largest community developers and homebuilders in the US and also offers financial services like home loans, titles, escrow and insurance to consumers, according to the statement. The firm has more than 350 communities across 12 states. The existing Taylor Morrison management team, including Chief Executive Officer Sheryl Palmer, will continue to lead the firm, according to the statement.
“We are excited to welcome Taylor Morrison into Berkshire’s portfolio,” Greg Abel, chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway, said in a statement Sunday. “Over time, we expect to unify our site-built homebuilding operations into a combined platform enabling us to deliver the dream of homeownership to more Americans.”
This is the first multibillion-dollar acquisition under Abel, who took over Berkshire Hathaway earlier this year after Warren Buffett retired last year. While investors have been satisfied with Abel’s command over the sprawling conglomerate, some have been hoping that a deal could support Berkshire’s shares, which fell 5.6% so far this year, largely due to Berkshire’s lack of exposure to the AI bubble. The S&P 500 index gained 10.7% in the same period.
It is unclear if the deal signals that Abel believes the bottom for the US housing market is coming, or if Berkshire is buying a homebuilder during a brutal housing labor shortage, giving companies like Taylor Morrison operating leverage despite sky high mortgage rates. In any case, while millions of Americans have been hoping and praying that 8% mortgage will crash the housing market – which has never been more unaffordable – and allow them to enter at lower price, the investor with the biggest cash pile in history just bought a builder outright with cash from under the rug, as a three million home supply deficit clearly overrides the soaring cost of capital.
June 2, 2026
Polyurethane Foam Association Spring Meeting Attracts Record
Attendance, Tackles Key Industry Issues
Mattress Recycling Council Wins Dr. Herman T. Stone Technical Excellence Award; Friedman
Inducted Into Hall of Fame; Skorpenske Recognized With Lifetime Achievement Award
PITTSBURGH (June 1, 2026)—Members and guests of The Polyurethane Foam Association had
plenty to discuss at the group’s annual Spring meeting, as the flexible foam industry faces supply
chain challenges, new potential regulation, and the promise of new technologies.
More than 170 industry professionals (a modern-era record attendance), including C-suite
executives, researchers, EHS specialists, marketers, and technologists came to the Omni William
Penn in late May for networking and presentations on foam sustainability, market trends, and the
regulatory environment.
“PFA was created 46 years ago to help
the industry address challenges that
threatened the existence of the flexible
polyurethane foam industry,” said Cam
McLaughlin of Elite Comfort Solutions
and current PFA President. “Today, we
still confront serious and changing
threats. This Association provides its
members with a platform to educate
themselves and take sensible action.”
During the conference’s Industry Issues Session, speakers covered current supply chain issues
created by the Strait of Hormuz blockade and chemical plant shutdowns. Representatives from foam
end-user industries, including automotive, business furniture, and bedding discussed conditions in
those market segments. Other speakers provided updates on isocyanate regulations and research,
plus reports on sustainability advances.
The Thursday afternoon Technical Program included presentations on AI-enabled R&D, foam
laydown technologies, mattress recycling byproducts, and bringing scientific rigor to mattress
comfort.
Michael Gallagher (second from left) and Karl Heider (second from
right) of the Mattress Recycling Council were winners of the Dr.
Herman Stone Technical Excellence Award at PFA’s conference in
Pittsburgh. Also pictured are Russ Batson, Executive Director of PFA
(left), and Cam McLaughlin of Elite Comfort Solutions, current PFA
President (right).
Following PFA’s Technical Program, Michael Gallagher and Karl Heider of the Mattress Recycling
Council were named winners of the Dr. Herman Stone Technical Excellence Award. The award is
voted on by attendees present for the Technical Program. The award is named for Dr. Herman T.
Stone, who served as PFA’s first Technical Director. In 2007, Dr. Stone was inducted into the
Flexible Polyurethane Foam Hall of Fame. It was the second time Gallagher was honored with the
award.
Industry Veterans Honored With Hall of Fame, Lifetime Achievement Award
Other foam professionals were also recognized for their contributions to
the industry. Sol Friedman of Future Foam, Inc. was inducted into the
Flexible Polyurethane Foam Hall of Fame. Friedman was one of the
founding executives of Future Foam during the late 1950s, and was
instrumental in helping flexible polyurethane foam get accepted by
customers to replace existing cushioning materials. He also helped
oversee Future Foam’s growth into one of the nation’s largest foam
producers.
Friedman died in late April. His son, Steve, spoke on his behalf in
Pittsburgh, recalling how his father had been a minor league baseball
player (once pitching against the legendary Bob Gibson) before finishing
college and entering the foam industry.
In addition, Richard Skorpenske, recently retired from Covestro, was
recognized with PFA’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Skorpenske has a
four-decade long career in the foam industry as a researcher and
specialist in sustainability. He is a contributor to a still-used textbook on
flexible foam, developed numerous patented technologies, and has long contributed time to
committees within PFA, the Center for the Polyurethanes Industry of the American Chemistry
Council, the International Sleep Products Association, and Cribs for
Kids, an organization that provides infant beds to underserved families.
“A key purpose of the Hall of Fame is to archive the stories of industry
founders, so that future generations can understand and learn from
them,” said McLaughlin. “Sol Friedman was a true pioneer.”
“And Richard Skorpenske’s insights and guidance for flexible
polyurethane foam has been invaluable for years, and will still be shaping
our business for decades to come.”
The Polyurethane Foam Association is a trade association founded in 1980 to
help educate regulators, users, allied industries, and others about flexible
polyurethane foam. PFA provides facts on environmental, health and safety
issues and technical information on the performance of flexible polyurethane
foam (FPF) in consumer and industrial products. FPF is used as a key
comfort component in most upholstered furniture and mattress products, along with automotive seating,
carpet cushion, packaging, and numerous other applications.
To learn more, visit www.pfa.org.
June 1, 2026
Chemical Grade Propylene is $0.52/lb in May 2026. Down 7cpp from April.
May 27, 2026
Ice-Breaker Settlement Reached in Diisocyanates Case
The first settlement in the long-standing In re Diisocyanates Antitrust Litigation was reached today with the BASF Defendants. The case, filed in 2018, alleges a conspiracy between BASF, Covestro, Huntsman, Dow and Wanhua to fix the prices of diisocyanates, colloquially known as MDI and TDI, in the United States since at least 2016. Diisocyantes are ubiquitous chemicals used in the manufacture of urethanes and foam products ranging from cast wheels, to foam mattresses, to coatings, adhesive and sealants. The details of the settlement will be made public upon the filing of the preliminary approval motion next month. Plaintiffs expect this ice-breaker settlement to lead to further settlements with the remaining Defendants.
April 2nd, 2026
hartleyllp.com/ice-breaker-settlement-reached-in-diisocyanates-case/
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