The PVC shortage continues

The recent winter storm in Texas was not helpful for the PVC market. Fiberglass electrical conduit offers a performance solution replacing PVC pipe across a wide array of applications.

Download the Champion Fiberglass® and PVC Conduit Comparison Chart to see how fiberglass conduit compares and excels against PVC SCH 40, PVC SCH 80 and PVC-coated steel in industrial construction projects.

The recent winter storm in Texas was not good news for those requiring PVC products in construction projects. Without power, chemical plants along the Texas Gulf Coast making resin base materials for PVC were forced to go offline, slowing production and adding to the PVC shortage already in place since plant shutdowns last year.

In fact, the winter storm could be responsible for the loss of 5 billion pounds or more of resin production, estimates ThePlasticsExchange.com. With strong demand and decreased production, prices of PVC products like SCH 40 and PVC SCH 80 conduit used in construction have soared and delivery times greatly increased.

If you recall, the PVC situation elevated in the latter half of 2020. Louisiana endured landfall of five hurricanes – Cristobal, Marco, Laura, Delta, and Zeta, which disrupted chemical plants in Louisiana (and Texas) considerably. The Texas winter storm adds yet another wrinkle to shutdowns in an industry already greatly disrupted.

About the February winter storm, the Wall Street Journal reports, “The power outages brought the world’s largest petrochemical complex to a standstill, forcing more plants in the Gulf of Mexico region to shut down than during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. A month later, many remain offline, and analysts said it could be months more before all are fully back.”

Further, ThePlasticsExchange.com writes “It will take considerable time for producers to back-fill orders, restock their inventories, lift allocations and unwind their Force Majeure declarations.”

Another layer to this complex situation is that the global pandemic is causing sluggish production and deliveries not only in the United States, but worldwide as businesses close or slow operations while employees quarantine and isolate.

If you are experiencing project delays with the PVC SCH 40 and SCH 80 conduit, there’s a solution: Champion Fiberglass conduit. Unaffected by the PVC shortage, fiberglass conduit is available now with shorter lead-times and more competitive pricing than PVC.

Champion Fiberglass® can help keep projects on track during this time. In fact, it has been used successfully in place of PVC in applications such as utilities, bridges and commercial construction. Fiberglass conduit is strong and durable and just as corrosion resistant as PVC. In reality, it performs better in many ways.

Engineered for ultimate strength, yet still lightweight, fiberglass conduit is superior to PVC because of its lower coefficient of friction, lack of burn-through, wide temperature range and lack of toxicity.

Across many applications, projects using fiberglass conduit benefit from:

• Lower installation costs
• Light weight
• Superior compression and impact strength

To illustrate how these systems compare, we’ve detailed product features across fiberglass conduit, PVC SCH 40, PVC SCH 80 and PVC-coated steel. Click here to see head-to-head how they stack up regarding installation times, halogen release, cable fault, UV resistance and more.

If you have more questions as to whether fiberglass conduit will work in your application, contact our helpful sales team for more information – 281.655.8900