Chemical and Material Shortage Alerts – February 2014

The purpose of this blog is to identify chemical and material shortages reported on the Internet.  The sources of the information reported here are primarily news releases issued on the Internet.  The issue period of the news releases is February, 2014.

Section I below lists those chemicals and materials that were on previous Chemical and Material Shortage Alerts lists and continue to have news releases indicating they are in short supply. Click here to read the January 2014 Chemical and Material Shortage Alerts list.

Section II lists the new chemicals and materials (not on the January alert).  Also provided is some explanation for the shortage and, when appropriate, geographical information.  This blog attempts to list only actual shortages situations – those shortages that are being experienced during the period covered by the news release.   Chemicals and materials identified in news releases as only being in danger of being in short supply status are not listed.

Section I.   Chemicals and materials that continue from January to be reported as in short supply are: construction materials (India, Malaysia); natural gas (Iran).  See the January alert (click here) for explanations for the shortages.

Section II.   Shortages Reported in February not found on the Previous Month’s List

Road salt.  Several localities in many US states had shortages of road salt due to higher than expected snow and cold weather.

Reasons for Section II shortages can be broadly categorized as: 

1.  Mining not keeping up with demand: none

2.  Production not keeping up with demand: none

3.  Government regulations: none;

4.  Sources no longer available: none

5.  Insufficient imports:  none

6.  Supply not keeping up with demand:  road salt