The choice of the correct adhesive and adhesive supplier can be a crucial factor in the long-term success of disposable hygiene product manufacturers.
Sustainable Nonwovens asked Sharon Situ, global forecasting manager of strategic sourcing at H.B. Fuller to explain the options and provide the bigger picture.
SNW: How much does the global crude oil market impact on the performance of businesses manufacturing absorbent hygiene products?
Sharon Situ: As a global adhesives supplier to the hygiene industry, our raw material feedstocks are by-products of the petrochemical industry so – as with a number of other suppliers of components for hygienic disposables – we have a certain dependency on the oil price. Even with the crude oil price being so low, this doesn’t necessarily reflect in the adhesive supply or cost chain, which is often multiple steps away from crude oil and competes against other materials utilising the same feedstock. It’s the supply and demand situation which sets the prices for our direct raw materials used in hygiene adhesives. In the past, it’s been a combination of these factors that has resulted in volatility in prices and in some cases shortage of supply.
SNW: What about the cost ratio between crude oil and natural gas?
SS: This is also now important in terms of raw material prices and their availability for the adhesives industry. A high crude oil-to-natural gas ratio pushes the cracking of more light feeds in favour of heavy feeds. And despite the price of crude oil being low right now – and continuing to fall – the low price of natural gas still makes light feeds favourable for ethylene cracking. The by-products produced by cracking light feeds are greatly reduced as compared to cracking with heavy feeds.
SNW: So what effect will this have?
SS: It means that, for adhesives which are highly dependent on by-products from heavy feeds, there will be no significant improvement on adhesive feedstock availability under the current low crude oil price. Adhesive raw materials are also competing with transportation and heating fuels on feedstocks, so the seasonality of demand for these fuels has a clear influence on the adhesive feedstock supply.
SNW: What are the ways of managing this risk?
SS: Feedstocks from the petro-chemical industry are really the only current effective way to ensure adhesive performance, however H.B. Fuller is constantly seeking ways to enhance supply assurance by researching alternative technologies. The company has been fine-tuning its metallocene olefin – mPO – adhesive technology for absorbent hygiene products, having taken the lead, over a decade ago, in recognising its potential for increased stability of supply and reduced price volatility. This continues today due to the anticipated increased production of propylene.
SNW: The amount of adhesive in an average diaper only constitutes around three per cent of the overall product though, doesn’t it?
SS: It does, but it’s critical; adhesive not only bonds hygiene products together, but also has an impact on the overall performance of the final end product.
