US polyurethane industry recovers to 2006 level

New Orleans, Louisiana  — Output in the North American polyurethane industry reached the same level as in 2006 in 2016, eight years after the crash of 2008, data to be presented by IAL Consultants at the CPI meeting here are expected to show.

Foreshadowing the presentation, Lee Salamone, CPI senior director told UTECH-polyurethane.com that production in NAFTA reached 3.78 MT (8.33 bn lbs) in 2016 up from 3.45 M T (7.6 bn lb) in 2014. She said that there had been considerable growth in 'all end markets rigid material, flexible and binders.'

She added that there had been 9.5% growth in spray foam applications between 2015 and 2016. The amount consumed by these applications was 235 kT/year (519 m lbs)  in 2016 compared with 212 kT/year (468 m lbs)  in 2014. The increase was partly due to a move to higher material density she added.

Full details of the IAL presentation are scheduled to be given here on Wednesday morning.