Why does the price of TPE vary much?

This topic covers only the styrene based Thermoplastic Elastomer compounds (TPS) that Phon Tech specialize.
The compositions of styrene based TPE are varied and usually the ingredients include Styrene Block copolymers (SBCs), plastic (PP, PE, PS, EVA), paraffinic oil, calcium carbonate and additives. Therefore, these material prices would affect the price of TPE.
The quality of SBCs also vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and so does the price. Without mention that these polymers contain prime, wide and off spec, which sometimes are difficult to identify the difference by appearance. However, using inferior or unstable quality material would affect customer's production and furthermore, jeopardize the goodwill.

The density of TPE also plays an important factor in price. With higher density, normally it indicates that the filler content (usually Calcium Carbonate) is more. With more filler, the cost of TPE would be cheaper. However, the yield rate per kilogram material would decrease. Therefore, density is to be considered while you calculate the cost of TPE.

Furthermore, the process oil percentage also affect price of TPE. Usually with higher percentage of process oil, the cost of TPE is lower and the melt flow rate of TPE is higher. However, excess of oil may have problem of oil bleeding. Usually such problem occurs few months after TPE is converted to semi-finish or finished products. This would cause massive loss.

So beware of the factors that would affect the price difference in TPE when you choose material. Make sure you buy TPE from trustworthy makers with good credit.
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