One of the unforeseen consequences of Hurricanes Katrina and
Rita has been the greatest increase in the price of polyurethane
foam, including memory foam, ever experienced in the US.
The type of price increases we are talking about - so far, as of
November 1, 2005, fabricators are seeing price increases of 77%
in the cost of memory foam. And retailers are seeing price
increases of 50% or more with further price increases to be seen.
The reason for these breathtaking price increases is the
shortage or a key chemical called TDI. The processing plants
that make TDI were devastated by the Hurricanes, and this has
led to unprecedented shortages of this chemical. This has meant
the key foam producing plants in the US are making just a
fraction of the foam they had been making - and in some cases
providing even huge mattress manufacturers like Sealy and Serta
just half the foam they had been supplying.
This foam shortage along with the huge price increases has had a
powerful effect on the memory foam business. Unlike regular
bedding manufacturers that may only use a small bit of foam in
making a mattress, memory foam mattress and memory foam mattress
topper manufacturers whole product is foam - so their raw costs
for their mattresses has skyrocketed.
What does this mean for consumers. First, expect to pay a lot
more for a US made memory foam bed or memory foam mattress
topper pad. Uniformly retailers have been hit with 50% price
increases on these products, and they will be passing this on to
you.
One option that many retailers are looking at is to look abroad
- at memory foam mattresses and toppers that are made in China
or other foreign countries not subject to these types of
shortages and price increases. I would caution about buying the
Chinese products for one main reason - all Chinese memory foams
are severely compressed when shipping over to the US, and this
can damage the foam and really diminish the benefits of the
memory foam. So I really don't advise buying these products
unless you have a great warranty and also know that the mattress
or mattress topper pad was only compressed for a short time
(month or two).
Surprisingly, the biggest memory foam mattress manufacturer,
Tempur-Pedic, hasn't raised prices and has said they don't
intend to. They say that they have been shielded from the price
increases since they source much of their raw materials from
overseas sources. Whether this will continue to be true once
they start their new, mammoth plant in New Mexico in the Spring
of 2006 remains to be seen - its hard to understand getting the
estimated 70 tanker trucks a day of raw material they need for
this plant from overseas sources. So if you are interested in a
Tempur-Pedic, you may want to shop now before any price
increases that may be a result of bringing this new plant online
in 2006. You may also want to check out the Tempur-Pedic buying
guide on our site before buying - it has a lot of information on
both the Tempur-Pedic mattresses as well as how to try to get
the best deal.
Are you looking for help to sleep but don't want
to spend out on a new mattress? Is the new mattress
you bought recently harder and therefore not as
comfortable as you hoped it would be?...
