15/03/2010
MAJOR INCREASES IN THE COST OF LATEX PREDICTED FOR APRIL 2010
Over the last few days major global latex producers have announced price increases of 15 –20% for latex for April .
This alarming situation has arisen because the cost of the monomers used to manufacture synthetic latex have continued to escalate through shortages, outages, shutdowns and to a some extent speculation.
This latest announcement means that the cost of latex has increased by nearly 50% since October 2009 !!
This situation is urgent and extremely serious. Cost increases of this magnitude cannot be absorbed and so it means prices throughout the supply chain will move very quickly.
Two weeks notice leaves very little time for any of us to react and until exact numbers are forthcoming no formal details can be given regarding individual products but at ILC we feel we must warn our customers of what is coming. For our part we will only be seeking to recover the impact of raw material increases and will try to be as flexible as we can but with the kind of increases being proposed it will be difficult to absorb any of the costs.
As and when we gain more information we will of course keep you informed.
John Davison
Managing Director
16/10/09ILC Facebook Page
I hope you have noticed that we now have a link to ILC's Facebook page. This is rather a step into the unknown for us. Whilst we like to think we approach our business affairs in a professional manner our aim is to also show the "flesh and blood" side of ourselves so that as customers you can get to know the personalities involved in ILC, as well as getting to know each other. That's where the Facebook page comes in. Our concept is that our facebook site will become a sort of "virtual" coffee shop or bar where the ILC community exchange thoughts and ideas, share interests and activities and maybe arrange social events in addition to having some chat about general business topics. The agenda is as simple as that; we will see how the concept evolves over time. So don't be shy, sign up and become a fan of ILC on Facebook
On to other matters, Domotex in Hannover takes place from 16th to 19th January 2010. Our team will be attending as it gives us the opportunity of meeting customers from around the world and renewing contacts. As we have done in the past we plan to have a relaxed get-together at the Broyen Haus in the Alt Stadt which tends to be our meeting point most evenings - the plan would be to meet for dinner and a drink or two either on Sunday evening or Monday evening ( if it isn't already booked up!). However, places will be limited so we would like to get an idea of who would be interested in joining us, we can't guarantee to include everyone but we will do our best!Get in touch if you'd like to join us.
Best Wishes John Davison Managing Director
01/10/09What's Happening to Prices
Once again suppliers' web sites are full of announcements about forthcoming price increases. Latex manufacturers are being hit with enormous increases in the cost of Butadiene, which is one of the main monomer building blocks of SB latex. It seems nobody is in a position to resist such increases as global demand for Butadiene is outstripping supply. SBR rubber for tyres is probably the largest single consuming market for Butadiene and vehicle sales in China are still booming keeping demand for tyres high.
Like everyone else; here at ILC we now face increases of 15 -20% in our basic SB polymer costs. The challenge for us is to pass on the increases to our customers in a fair and reasonable manner. Our policy will be to reflect only raw material changes so any increase in compound cost will be as a result of such increases.
Our aim is to give as much price stability as we can, it isn't practical for you, our customers, to be faced with the monthly pricing that we have to manage so our new prices will be valid to at least 01/01/2010 and we will discuss with you individually how the increases can be implemented. This is a situation nobody enjoys but the best solution will be one arrived at through discussion and reason.
Moving on to another subject - Sales of our gel polyacrylate thickeners Viscone 35 and Texigel 23-005 seem to be increasing steadily. The big advantage of these thickeners are their efficiency and predictable viscosity profile. Acid polyacrylates are perhaps easier to handle but will often give variable viscosity results as they rely on their thickening effect by reacting with free alkali in the compound which varies; thus giving unpredictable results.We now have a lower viscosity thickener Viscone 205 which is designed to be easier to handle and is useful when producing water-based formulations in 3000 -8000 cps viscosity range. So, if you are a self-compounder get in touch and we will send you samples.
October 1st is a big day for our friends in China - 60 years since the founding of the PRC. Best wishes and enjoy the holiday !!
To everybody else thanks for visiting our site, I hope you found it interesting. We have more developments in the pipeline so keep in touch.
Best wishes John Davison Managing Director
29/09/2009 Welcome to the new ILC website. We want this site to be your entrance to
our world of Latex, Latex Compounding and Latex Technology. I want the communication through our website to reflect the “real world” face of ILC. We are a company populated with friendly helpful people who enjoy our work and enjoy contact with our customers. We want to be successful in solving customer problems and deliver products and assistance that genuinely add to our customers’ performance. So my first point is to urge you to talk to us – we have an enormous amount of experience in latex technology that is uniquely combined with our understanding of plant and processes. Over the years we have commissioned carpet and textile machinery in every part of the world and many people who now run production for major carpet and textile mills learnt at least some of there backing and finishing expertise from our technicians; in fact there are a good number of ex ILC people around still using the knowledge and experience they gained at ILC !
Our aim with this “News” page is to keep you up to date with what we are doing and to give you our perspective on the latex business in general and how we see it affecting your particular application areas. You can see from the website that the emphasis of our business is carpet backing and Textile finishing but our broad knowledge of water-based polymers and compounding means that our knowledge extends in to paper and wallpaper finishing , water-based adhesives, construction, paint and coatings and D.I Y. products such as ceramic tile adhesive and wood finishes. We don’t claim to be experts in these particular areas but you may find that our “hands-on” approach can deliver new solutions for you.
Finally, I want to say that we look to build long term relationships with anybody with whom we do business and usually success comes from combining your skills and knowledge with our skills and knowledge and ending up with more than the sum of the two halves .
Looking forward to talking to you further and enjoying this fascinating world of Latex !!
Best wishes and good business
John Davison – Managing Director
