According to Saunders, that has created six-month waits for the product and more orders than manufacturers can keep up with. He said demand will likely remain strong as states continue their phased reopenings, and as schools and colleges try to bring students back to campus safely.
“There just is no material in the pipeline,” he added. “Everything that is received in is already confirmed for and sold almost immediately.”
As demand outstrips supply, some prices for plastic sheets, which are generically known as acrylics and polycarbonates, are also rising. According to J. Freeman, Inc., one of its vendors recently wanted five times the usual price.
This worldwide clamor for barriers has been a lifeline for what had been a declining industry.
“This was previously a sector that was actually quite unprofitable, whereas now it really is the sector to be in,” said Katherine Sale of Independent Commodity Intelligence Services, which gathers data on global commodities markets.
According to Sale, demand for plastics had been shrinking in the decade prior to the pandemic. That’s partly because as products such as flat-screen televisions get thinner, for example, they don’t require as much plastic to be manufactured. And when the pandemic shut down the construction and automotive industries, that reduced demand for clear plastic car parts like headlights and taillights.
“And if they could produce more, they said that they could sell ten times what they’re currently selling, if not more,” she added.
“It’s completely out of hand,” said Russ Miller, store manager of TAP Plastics in San Leandro, California, which has 18 locations on the West Coast. “In 40 years of selling plastic sheets, I’ve never seen anything like this.”
TAP’s sales were up more than 200 percent in April, according to Miller, and he said the only reason its sales have declined since then is the company has no more full plastic sheets to sell, even though earlier this year TAP ordered a massive supply that it had expected to last for the rest of the year.
“That was gone in two months,” Miller said. “A year’s supply, gone in two months!”
Meanwhile, the uses for clear plastic barriers are becoming more creative and unusual. Miller said he’s seen designs for protective guards and shields that he considers “bizarre,” including one that mounts on your chest, curves in front of your face, and is meant to be worn while walking around.
A French designer has created a lampshade-shaped clear plastic dome that hangs over the heads of guests at restaurants. And an Italian designer has made a clear plastic box for social distancing on beaches — basically, a plexiglass cabana.
Post time: Aug-13-2021