What's the reason for the TFE and Kynar- PVDF long lead times

Over the last year, the industry has had more allocations than I have come across inside my thirty years experience. In the past I have seen sharp price increases, and I have seen several shortages, and delivery issues resulting from plastic resin allocations through resin manufacturers. This is the very first occasion I have seen all these issues at one time.

PTFE (TFE) and Kynar - PVDF are both on allocation.

This pair of resins are in short supply. The  PTFE Sheet suppliers product PTFE (TFE) along with PVDF  manufacturing requires a mineral called Fluorspar that is mined in Mongolia and China. The worldwide demand for this mineral has risen significantly, as well as the supply has tightened. PTFE materials have high heat resistance, excellent chemical resistance and extremely low co-efficient of friction (slippery) and is utilised throughout a great deal of applications from non-stick fry pans to ptfe tape for use at home. This specific mineral is actually the important raw material in the production of fluoropolymers, fluorolubricants and many refrigerants.This increase in demand paired with general shortage of raw materials is mainly responsible for a dramatic price increase (almost double over the last year), shortages, and we expect these two factors to stay in affect in the near future.