After two years of development and field testing and a year of production for the 1 ½” dual-durometer molded hoses, pre-production samples for the <strong>2” molded Collector Connector Hose are due in shortly</strong>. Once QC has reviewed the parts and engineering puts them through their paces one more time, we’ll get them on order. The new part number is 60690-2 with a list price of $10.75.

You might not think that a hose should make its way into a sales presentation, but when your competitor is saying “radiator hose”, you can set yourself above them with dual-durometer technology <strong>specifically made for the product you’re selling</strong> with UV and chemical resistance and not for under the hood of a car.
<h3><strong>Aquatherm Receives Two New Approvals</strong></h3>
We’re pleased to announce that our Solar Industries and Ecosun lines are the first and only polymer collectors to have been awarded certification by <strong>The Canadian Solar Association</strong> under their strict CSA-F378 criteria. CSA is an International Organization that is a leading provider of product testing and certification services. Products listed by CSA for certification have met national and international standards for quality, safety and assurance of a well built product. This certification is of course especially great news for our Canadian customers.

After receiving <strong>NSF-50 </strong>certification on all of our thermally welded products, Ecolite and Sunlite, our two foot wide, 1 ½” insert molded header products are now NSF listed as well. Next up for testing is our new 2” insert-molded <strong>UltraSun </strong>product line which is scheduled to be introduced this summer.
<h3><strong>Pricing Update</strong></h3>
It would seem that the plastics manufacturers have learned the game of slamming the market up against the ceiling and then peeling us down. After a huge increase in February, the market softened and another .10 a pound predicted for March failed to materialize. Feedstock prices even began to drop by a few cents a pound in mid-March as demand decreased, but were immediately offset by higher shipping costs.

Just this week though, we received notifications from both our suppliers that the April CMAI and CDI plastic pricing indices are now forecasting another .15 per pound increase for May 1.

The reason blamed for the increases is a seesaw in demand between polyethylene and polypropylene. When polypropylene increased so dramatically early in the year because of shortages, producers that could, switched to polyethylene. That of course led to a softening of the polypropylene market and significantly higher prices for polyethylene.

That set off a backlash of producers switching back to polypropylene and another shortage.

Behind the scenes though, the real reasons for skyrocketing costs are an increase in demand from a recovering economy, manufacturers’ still not rehiring employees which affects their ability to produce products in a timely manner resulting in shortages and the rising price of oil.

We’ll be hearing more from our suppliers by the end of the month, but for now it certainly looks like the surcharge will be increasing on or about May 15.