The Urethane Blog
Everchem Updates
VOLUME XXI
September 14, 2023
Everchem’s exclusive Closers Only Club is reserved for only the highest caliber brass-baller salesmen in the chemical industry. Watch the hype video and be introduced to the top of the league: — read more
March 15, 2021
EU chemicals need stable, strong regulatory framework to grow – execs
Author: Morgan Condon
2021/03/12
LONDON (ICIS)–A firmer connection is needed between the EU Green Deal and the bloc’s industrial strategy to support the competitiveness of its chemicals industry, according to executives in the European chemicals industry.
Rene Van Sloten, industrial policy advisor at Europe-wide trade group Cefic, emphasised the importance of this link to meet the EU’s net-zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, 2050 environmental targets.
“There are opportunities [for chemicals in the Green Deal] but in order for European industry to benefit from this it needs to develop solutions for all these problems, not importing solutions from other parts of the world,” said Van Sloten.
He estimated that the chemicals industry would require annual investments between €17-27bn, depending on the level of ambition of making sustainable production a reality.
“We need to keep Europe attractive as investment location. If it is not attractive, other regions will compete for investment, so we need to make sure framework is there,” he said.
Dennis Kredler, director for EU Affairs at US chemicals major Dow, which runs large production facilities in the region, said that the EU’s chemicals industry has the potential to become a “game changer”.
He added that, however, any innovation in the industry would depend on public and private funding, something he considered to be challenging due to what he described as unstable regulatory landscape.
“Investment needs as much predictability as possible. You could argue that there is a lot of predictability, many companies in this industry are putting investment plans in place to achieve these outcomes,” said Kredler.
“The challenge is that practically our entire regulatory framework [is currently] under review.”
The EU has stated it aims to renew and upgrade its Reach chemicals regulatory framework, already the strictest in the world; chemicals producers often complain its implementation adds red-tape and a financial burden on their operations.
With issues as diverse yet important as climate change, plant permits, chemicals management, and the circular economy all vying for attention, a unified industrial strategy would help connect the dots and provide a clear path forwards.
Van Sloten and Kredler were speaking earlier this week at Cefic-organised event titled ‘Beyond European economic recovery: How can industry support Europe’s competitive sustainability?’
March 12, 2021
Furniture industry ‘decimated’ by foam shortage after Texas storm, NC manufacturers say
A February storm that pummeled Texas and Louisiana led to a shortage of foam used to pad the arms and backs of furniture. That shortage is being felt in manufacturing plants in North Carolina.
Roy Calcagne, the CEO for Craftmaster in Hickory offered a succinct assessment of the situation: “It’s terrible.”
The severe winter storm knocked out foam manufacturing plants for days. Among those plants were producers of the two chemicals required to make flexible foam used in upholstered furniture, Calcagne said.
The chemical polyol is made in several manufacturing facilities across the U.S., but the majority are located around the Gulf of Mexico, according to EverChem Specialty Chemicals, a chemical marketing and sales company and one of Calcagne’s sources of information on the situation.
The second chemical, toluene diisocyanate (TDI), is made in the U.S. at only two plants — one in Texas and one in Louisiana — according to EverChem. Both were hit by the storm.
“Because of the ice storms and power outages, these companies were slow to come back online,” Calcagne said.
Foam manufacturers, which use the chemicals to create foam for furniture manufacturers, don’t keep a large supply of the chemicals on hand, according to EverChem. With the chemicals rolling out slowly from the source, foam manufacturers are limited in their production. That means furniture companies are receiving about half of what they normally get, Calcagne said.
The shortage affects foam and furniture makers across the United States, Calcagne said.
“It’s pretty much decimated our industry,” he said.
With no foam to fill furniture, Craftmaster was forced to cut production to three days a week, Calcagne said. The company chose to pay workers for an extra day to help them get by.
Century Furniture in Hickory is also feeling the effects. Since early March, production hours in some departments have been cut by a half day or a full day each week. CEO Alex Shuford said he expects more cuts in late March and April.
“It’s a pretty bad situation,” Shuford said. “It looks like shortages are going to last for a while, and it’s definitely going to impact almost all the factories in the upholstery industry around here in their ability to operate.”
Shuford expects Century’s production to be down 30 to 40% in March and for that slowdown to last into April. The foam allocations Century is getting have slowly gotten smaller since foam was first limited in early March, Shuford said.
Shuford said he expects the shortage to add two weeks to Century’s production time. “The situation is far from stable and so our predictions are changing weekly,” Shuford said.
Calcagne said the foam shortage comes on top of growing orders. Business has boomed since late 2020 after a dip during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Craftmaster saw 70% growth in its business from June to March, Calcagne said. Even before the decrease in foam supply, they couldn’t keep up with the orders.
He added that the slowdown, “puts us further behind with our customers.”
March 12, 2021
Furniture industry ‘decimated’ by foam shortage after Texas storm, NC manufacturers say
A February storm that pummeled Texas and Louisiana led to a shortage of foam used to pad the arms and backs of furniture. That shortage is being felt in manufacturing plants in North Carolina.
Roy Calcagne, the CEO for Craftmaster in Hickory offered a succinct assessment of the situation: “It’s terrible.”
The severe winter storm knocked out foam manufacturing plants for days. Among those plants were producers of the two chemicals required to make flexible foam used in upholstered furniture, Calcagne said.
The chemical polyol is made in several manufacturing facilities across the U.S., but the majority are located around the Gulf of Mexico, according to EverChem Specialty Chemicals, a chemical marketing and sales company and one of Calcagne’s sources of information on the situation.
The second chemical, toluene diisocyanate (TDI), is made in the U.S. at only two plants — one in Texas and one in Louisiana — according to EverChem. Both were hit by the storm.
“Because of the ice storms and power outages, these companies were slow to come back online,” Calcagne said.
Foam manufacturers, which use the chemicals to create foam for furniture manufacturers, don’t keep a large supply of the chemicals on hand, according to EverChem. With the chemicals rolling out slowly from the source, foam manufacturers are limited in their production. That means furniture companies are receiving about half of what they normally get, Calcagne said.
The shortage affects foam and furniture makers across the United States, Calcagne said.
“It’s pretty much decimated our industry,” he said.
With no foam to fill furniture, Craftmaster was forced to cut production to three days a week, Calcagne said. The company chose to pay workers for an extra day to help them get by.
Century Furniture in Hickory is also feeling the effects. Since early March, production hours in some departments have been cut by a half day or a full day each week. CEO Alex Shuford said he expects more cuts in late March and April.
“It’s a pretty bad situation,” Shuford said. “It looks like shortages are going to last for a while, and it’s definitely going to impact almost all the factories in the upholstery industry around here in their ability to operate.”
Shuford expects Century’s production to be down 30 to 40% in March and for that slowdown to last into April. The foam allocations Century is getting have slowly gotten smaller since foam was first limited in early March, Shuford said.
Shuford said he expects the shortage to add two weeks to Century’s production time. “The situation is far from stable and so our predictions are changing weekly,” Shuford said.
Calcagne said the foam shortage comes on top of growing orders. Business has boomed since late 2020 after a dip during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Craftmaster saw 70% growth in its business from June to March, Calcagne said. Even before the decrease in foam supply, they couldn’t keep up with the orders.
He added that the slowdown, “puts us further behind with our customers.”
March 12, 2021
Technical Innovation Centre launched by MP
It has been a Budget Week like no other with a big focus on kick-starting the economy and ‘building back better’. At The Vita Group, we continue to invest in the future, ensuring we’re able to sustainably deliver the very best products and solutions for our customers for generations to come. As part of this mission, we are proud to unveil our fourth innovation hub with the launch of Vita’s new Innovation Centre in Accrington, Lancashire.
The Accrington Technical Innovation Centre will work in partnership with employees and customers across our European footprint to lead research, development, and collaboration on highly engineered and customized polyurethane foam, including driving forward sustainable solutions through the use of biopolyols.
Vita’s four state-of-the-art innovation centres in Accrington, Corby, Middleton and Lithuania collectively represent a £1.3m investment for the Group, 80% of which has been allocated to its sites in the North West.
The centre was officially opened by Sara Britcliffe MP for Hyndburn & Haslingden, at a virtual launch event hosted from the site in Accrington. It offered guests a virtual tour of the new facility, as well as an overview of the site from Group CEO Ian Robb and Technical MD Stuart Roby.
Joining via video link, Sara Britcliffe MP said: “The Innovation Centre is a fantastic example of the type of investment needed in our area to help make the vision of a levelling up agenda a reality. As we start to ease restrictions, I am eager to put Hyndburn & Haslingden firmly back on the map, and work with local businesses like The Vita Group to make our area an innovation hub for the entire region, bringing forward more exciting projects like this, driving jobs and growing the next generation of innovative businesses and facilities.”
A huge congratulations to all involved and welcome to our new colleagues who will help to make this new facility a world-class centre of excellence, combining Vita’s technical expertise in foam chemistry with the latest state-of-the-art testing equipment and systems.
March 12, 2021
Technical Innovation Centre launched by MP
It has been a Budget Week like no other with a big focus on kick-starting the economy and ‘building back better’. At The Vita Group, we continue to invest in the future, ensuring we’re able to sustainably deliver the very best products and solutions for our customers for generations to come. As part of this mission, we are proud to unveil our fourth innovation hub with the launch of Vita’s new Innovation Centre in Accrington, Lancashire.
The Accrington Technical Innovation Centre will work in partnership with employees and customers across our European footprint to lead research, development, and collaboration on highly engineered and customized polyurethane foam, including driving forward sustainable solutions through the use of biopolyols.
Vita’s four state-of-the-art innovation centres in Accrington, Corby, Middleton and Lithuania collectively represent a £1.3m investment for the Group, 80% of which has been allocated to its sites in the North West.
The centre was officially opened by Sara Britcliffe MP for Hyndburn & Haslingden, at a virtual launch event hosted from the site in Accrington. It offered guests a virtual tour of the new facility, as well as an overview of the site from Group CEO Ian Robb and Technical MD Stuart Roby.
Joining via video link, Sara Britcliffe MP said: “The Innovation Centre is a fantastic example of the type of investment needed in our area to help make the vision of a levelling up agenda a reality. As we start to ease restrictions, I am eager to put Hyndburn & Haslingden firmly back on the map, and work with local businesses like The Vita Group to make our area an innovation hub for the entire region, bringing forward more exciting projects like this, driving jobs and growing the next generation of innovative businesses and facilities.”
A huge congratulations to all involved and welcome to our new colleagues who will help to make this new facility a world-class centre of excellence, combining Vita’s technical expertise in foam chemistry with the latest state-of-the-art testing equipment and systems.
Everchem Updates Archive 
Sign Up for Email Updates