Checked the price of Epoxy Lately ?

[Boat Bill]

Got my new Jamestown Distributors catalog today and discovered that System 3 prices are up 25% over last year. Wow!

[Steve Lansdowne]

My previous catalog had a gallon of resin for $50 or so, and the one I just ordered was $62. It may be related to the impending shortage of all kinds of building products given the Tsumani disaster and Florida rebuilding needs from the hurricaine destruction a year or so ago. Quick, build before the prices go even higher!

[kc8pql]

Oil is at $50. barrel and the dollar is way down. Epoxy isn't the only thing we're going to see prices rise on.

[John Bell]

In my work I sell industrial chemicals, many of which are petrochemically based. The cost of the feedstuffs is certainly part of the picture, but even more important in the unprecedented run up in prices is that in many areas the supply and demand are out of balance. Worldwide demand has for many chemicals has skyrocketed in the last year, and there simply isn't manufacturing capacity to supply every need. The petrochemical feedstocks aren't necessarily the problem, either. For a couple of decades chemical prices at the producer level have suffered from deflation in a highly competitive, oversupplied market. Productivity improvements and consolidation have kept the industry viable through the years. But one problem has developed because of this. The profitability of many of these products was not at a level to support reinvestment in to increase capacity. This was fine as long as there aren't any spikes in demand. Now that we've gotten that spike, though, any unused capacity was quickly filled and still it's not enough to meet demand. The answer has to be that these now scarce material find their way to the highest value use, and that is determined by price.

In the last year, one of the products I sell got hit with these circumstances. My cost of raw materials went up 100% in 13 months. What else can we do but raise prices? It's been tough four our customers to take this sudden turn of events after I'd spent much of the last six years cutting their prices. The difference is that I could do it then, and I have to do the opposite now.

I know for a fact epichlorhydrin (the key material in epoxy resin) has been tight for the last few months and prices have gone up accordingly, like 50-75% in the last year. People who make products out of epi are going to have to raise their prices if they are going to survive. I don't expect to see much relief price-wise until when and if the economy cools down.

Maybe it's time find a new way to build boats? With planks and rivets and cotton and oakum to stop the water from coming in... ;) Has that been done before?

[Bob Cleek]

So right you are, John! There's always a price to pay and never a quick fix. Honing up on traditional boatbuilding skills can save a lot of money and likely produce a more valuable boat to boot.

[Frank E. Price]

Back to linseed oil, turps and white lead, eh? Such a shame.

Frank

[paul oman]

All our suppliers had MAJOR price increases this past fall.
We had to raise the price of our marine epoxy 3% although our cost was up 5-40%. We are swallowing the difference hoping we can make up for it with volume. We've keep our 30 gal kits the same price for the past 4 years or so, now almost no profit on that size unit.

Worse for us is the constant increases by UPS - somehow the 'truckers' always make their money!

paul oman
progressive epoxy polymers
www.epoxyproducts.com/marine.html (http://www.epoxyproducts.com/marine.html)

[JimConlin]

Was that an ad?

[paul oman]

Not intended to be, sorry if you felt that way Jim. I know the rules and carefully craft any comment I make not to mention products, prices, advantages or disadvantages of everyone's products, etc.

I was attempting to show the wide scope of the fall raw material price increases across the board. Blame the suppliers not the resellers for the 0%-40% increases in prices.

Pls accept my appology if you think i 'crossed the line' with this response. While the line is a bit fuzzy, I promise to be more careful avoiding it!

My goal is to share 'insider info' with all of you and to also CAREFULLY explain/introduce the broader range of epoxy type products that exist outside the narrow niche of "marine epoxies" sold to boat owners without being self serving.

paul

[Hwyl]

Paul and Jim, you are both professionals and great commentators on this board. I think it's O.K. to cross the line every now and again.
Otherwise you would be hiding your light under a bushel.

How about some more pictures of the tri' Jim.

[Bill Perkins]

Yeah Paul I'm always interested to hear your views as an industry insider.

[JimConlin]

My issue is over the inclusion of a link to a commercial site in every post. It is not done by any others of the many people here who are 'in the business'.

[Bayboat]

Jim: Maybe you'd feel better if Paul put his commentary in Resources/Product Search. There are certainly many links to businesses there. His information is useful and I don't think it bends the rules. Perhaps he includes a link to his business to give us a concrete example of what he's talking about.