The commodity prices for polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) continue to be quite high, especially when considering that the current supply situation has remarkedly improved over what it had been in 2011. Price stabilisation, even at its current high level, is an important prerequisite for ensuring future investments. These are the recently published findings by the fluoropolymer group of the German Association for Semi-finished Plastics and Consumer Products pro-K (Frankfurt am Main; www.pro-kunststoff.de) based on the organisation's regular survey of the PTFE industry with its members.

Prices for S-PTFE and E-PTFE continue to be 60% over what they were in 2010. Due to the worldwide economic recovery and a stronger demand for high performance plastics, fluoroplastics prices more than doubled between 2010 and 2011. At the same time, there was a rather fragile scarcity of the market supply as fluorspar – the raw material for fluoroplastics – was no longer available in adequate supply.

In the meantime, the situation has undergone considerable change, says the association. There are now ample supplies of fluoroplastics available for the long-term. Previously discontinued fluorspar extraction sites have been re-opened and new sites have been added, primarily in Africa. It stabilises the entire market and the respective value creation chains.