Safety buyers in the chemicals processing industry (CPI) are breathing easy. Despite concerns that spot shortages for respirators would expand after the terrorist attacks and anthrax scare, there are no reports that supply has been disrupted in the CPI. However, leadtimes have extended for respirators and other safety products, and sources suggest those stretched deliveries may not change as recovery in New York in particular continues through 2002.

Customers in the CPI say personal protective equipment (PPE) supply is adequate, though deliveries are often delayed. The attacks have had "no effect on sourcing" of personal health and safety products, says Ellen Runkle, senior buyer at Ashland Distribution and Ashland Specialty Chemical, Dublin, Ohio. She says the company is not having "any difficulty in obtaining the materials we have or need," crediting existing contracts for stable supply levels. Gloves account for the largest PPE buy, Runkle says, followed by safety glasses and hard hats. Respirators rank much lower in terms of volume purchased at these Ashland companies.

Where CPI buyers are running into trouble is not with supply but with leadtimes. Runkle notes there have been "additional leadtimes associated with getting some items," though Ashland has sufficient PPE stock. A source at Eastman Chemical, Kingsport, Tenn., says leads for respirators have been extended by a week, but says delivery times began to stretch before Sept. 11. A CPI buyer says, "Manufacturers obviously were not prepared for the influx of business, and government requests get first priority."

Ron Herring, director of marketing, MSA Safety Works, Pittsburgh, Pa., says his company has been working at full capacity to meet demand. He says customers have been getting air-purifying respirators since the attacks, but "just not as fast" as earlier this year.

Phyllis Adams, purchasing agent at H. Kramer, a smelting company in Chicago, says she has been monitoring her distributor's supply of respirators. Demand at her company, which makes brass and bronze and uses respirators to prevent lead ingestion, hasn't changed since Sept. 11. However, Adams reports respirators have been harder to come by, as her distributor's supplier is delivering product to the World Trade Center (WTC) site in New York. She says the supplier hasn't put customers on allocation, but that orders are not being filled immediately. As Adams sees it, this tighter supply situation isn't going to change in the near future as the WTC recovery is expected to last through 2002 and beyond. She's also seeing gaps in supplies of coveralls and safety glasses.

Though demand for respirators in the weeks after the attacks was moderate overall, scattered spikes have caused spot shortages. However, supply levels are rebuilding as buyers in the CPI report their requirements remain at pre-Sept. 11 levels, and as safety equipment producers add capacity.

Overall, demand for respirators has been mixed after the attacks, says MSA's Herring. For instance, government agencies issued orders immediately, as did organizations outfitting people working at the attack sites. But orders from industry dropped in the weeks just after Sept. 11 as companies waited to see the direction of the economy. Now, Herring says, business has recovered, but he hasn't seen an increase in demand from chemicals processing companies. Currently, Herring says the only area of higher respirator demand is among security forces across industries. He's also seen more orders from the U.S. Postal Service and mailrooms across various business sectors.

Despite spot tightening of PPE supplies, pricing for these products has been stable. MSA's Herring expects prices for personal health and safety products to rise 2-3% industry wide in the first quarter of 2002 based on the economy's performance rather than Sept. 11.

Though the terrorist at-tacks will not affect pricing, they will affect requirements for personal health and safety products, says Herring. For example, he says anthrax is redirecting attention to respirator standards as well as requirements for products such as gas masks, which had lost market share in recent years due to higher cost and lower comfort. Herring points out the concern with anthrax and other biological weapons is avoiding ingestion of even small amounts of a substance, unlike chemicals, where the goal is preventing cumulative exposure.