Buying Memory Foam After Katrina and Rita

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. Harry Robinson http://www.memoryfoambedbuyersguide.com