Rebond Shortage Causing Problems

Fort Collins, CO, June 19, 2006--Seemingly out of nowhere, a tight supply of rebond carpet pad, used in 85 percent of American homes, is pinching carpet outlets, builders, and consumers in Fort Collins and across the country, according to the Coloradoan. The price of rebond has nearly doubled in the last two months and likely will rise higher this summer. Price increases could add hundreds of dollars to the cost of new construction and recarpeting jobs. Anticipated delays in obtaining the pad could eventually steer consumers away from carpet altogether, accelerating the decade-long trend toward hard surface flooring, such as wood, laminate and tile. Rebond, the multicolored, patchwork cushion that lies beneath most domestic carpeting, is in short supply because of shortages in the chemicals and recycled scraps of foam used to make the product, said Steve Stockwell, executive vice president of Foamex, a manufacturer of rebond pad. Jerry Cogburn, owner of Dale's Carpet One in Fort Collins, said the price of rebond began to increase around May 1. "We've received three letters from our distributor informing us of three separate price hikes," said Cogburn. "There's another increase due in July, and now our distributor is telling us they're going to be allocating pad because there's not enough to go around." Shirley Beliveaux, manufacturer sales representative for Foamex, said she's never seen anything like the current shortage in her 28 years in the business. "My sources say it could be this way through the end of the year or longer," said Beliveaux. "There's no light at the end of the tunnel." Depending on whom you talk to, blame for the shortage and the associated price hikes can be attributed to myriad factors, including the booming economy in China, a shift in European construction tastes, rising petroleum costs and the long-lasting effects of Hurricane Katrina. Until the '70s, rubber was America's carpet pad of choice. A temporary rubber shortage forced home flooring companies to look for alternative carpet cushions, opening the door for the rebond carpet pad industry. "Foamers," as the makers of polyurethane foam are known, could already produce polyurethane foam pad, but the price made it cost-prohibitive. An opportunity existed, they believed, in the waste stream generated by their customers. Foamers supplied furniture, car seat and bedding manufacturers with bulk foam for their products. Those businesses generated a significant quantity of "trim," or scrap foam, in their manufacturing processes. Scientists employed by foamers developed a process by which they could regrind the trim, mix it with chemicals and heat, and cure the mixture into cylindrical logs. After curing, the foam could be peeled off into the appropriate gage, or thickness, to become "rebonded" carpet pad. In short order, a thriving, reciprocal business was built between producers and consumers of polyurethane foam. Rebond was so good and so cheap that within a few years, it had captured as much as 90 percent of the U.S. carpet cushion industry. Except for seasonal fluctuations, the markets for trim and rebond pad have been relatively stable since the '70s. Last fall, the market took a big hit. "The trigger was Katrina," said Ken Thompsen, vice president of the carpet cushion division of Carpenter Co. "Katrina wiped out several chemical manufacturers that produce the chemicals needed to make polyurethane foam. That sent the whole industry into a tailspin." As a result, foam producers were forced to scale back production of new foam, which subsequently shrunk the supply of trim. - continued