Closures in Europe and in the United States and limited freight capacities on sea and on land have had a negative impact on the availability of raw materials essential to adhesive manufacturing.

The adhesives manufacturer Jowat, from Detmold, Germany, is facing a disruption to the supply of key raw materials and adhesive intermediates caused by outages at several European and U.S. chemical manufacturers.

Availability of raw materials essential to adhesive manufacturing had already been limited prior to the outages, the company said. The situation has been made worse by the recent severe winter weather in the U.S. South which has led to the loss of a large part of refinery and chemical production capacities in the U.S. This has also impacted the supply chains of Jowat’s international locations.

According to the U.S. American Adhesive and Sealant Council, supply chains in and from the United States will take weeks or even months to recover.

In addition, according to Jowat, the situation is made even more challenging by currently long transport times and limited availability of freight capacities on sea and on land. In the global raw material market, this also has a significant impact on the current supply situation in Europe and Asia.

Klaus Kullmann, managing director at Jowat SE, said, “We regret the current shortage situation and are doing our utmost to remain a reliable supplier and partner for our customers. Our global orientation helps us operate in a flexible manner and reduce the negative consequences of supply bottlenecks as far as possible. In this unprecedented situation, however, supply disruptions can hardly be avoided.” See http://www.jowat.com