Katrina chemical shortages boost mattress prices
Tuesday, November 29, 2005 7:50 AM PST
By Associated Press
Printable version
E-mail this articleBEND, Ore. (AP) -- Shortages of chemicals caused by Hurricane Katrina are sending prices for mattresses and some furniture soaring because of damage to Gulf Coast petrochemical plants that produce the products, retailers and marketers say.
Raw material prices are up as much as 60 percent since the hurricanes, which means prices for a queen-sized mattress are up as much as $176 per mattress, said Brian Seed, vice president of The Mattress Factory in Bend.
"Boy, it's a mess," Seed said. "Our foam suppliers are getting beat up almost daily."
The problem lies with toluene diisocyanate (TDI), used to produce foam products like cushions, chairs, sofas, love seats, flotation devices, water-recreation products, shoulder pads, packaging materials and mattresses.
The chemical is the big culprit, said Ken Starrett, vice president of sales and marketing for Arlington, Texas-based American Excelsior Co., whose operations include foam distribution.
"In 35 years, I've never seen (price) increases like this," he told The Bulletin of Bend.
Seed said most makers raised wholesale prices 12 percent to 15 percent in October. Queen-sized beds costing less than $399 will be hard to find, he added.
He doesn't expect mattress prices to fall anytime soon. Now that the best foam products are expensive to produce, Seed said more manufacturers are producing the lower-grade mattresses at higher prices.
Some makers are stockpiling, making the shortage worse and forcing TDI suppliers to allocate supplies.
To keep high prices from discouraging customers, Seed said The Mattress Factory may switch to more natural products, such as organic bed materials.
Seed is co-owner of Organic Sleep Products, which sells mattresses made of natural materials like cotton and wool.
The price of organic mattresses hasn't increased like the more popular, synthetic mattresses, but Seed said more customers and mattress businesses are interested in the less expensive products.
"We used to have name-brand organic mattresses for a year, but synthetics became so much cheaper to produce, that natural materials (for mattresses) were abandoned," Seed said.
Organic mattresses may feel different than foam, Seed said, but they are comfortable. Wool in organic mattresses is a natural insulator, so it regulates body temperature, he said.
At Bend's Furniture Outlet, prices haven't increased for furniture and mattresses yet.
"We're not changing prices because we don't want to overprice our consumers," said owner David Guzman. "Right now, we're absorbing the high prices."
His inventory can sustain prices for now, he said, but his stock will only last three to six months. Then the Furniture Outlet may be absorbing even more costs as swamped manufacturing companies take weeks to deliver orders and more companies struggle to build inventory.
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