Clark Foam stops trading...

[jonny]

http://www.twsbiz.com/twbiz/features/ar ... 26,00.html

could have a big impact on the industy

[PapaW]

Glad there is only 1 thread about this here :p there where 3 on MSW :O

bit ott...

[tomcat360]

dangit! stupid politicians screwed up yet another thing keepin me alive!

"According to Morley, the other primary blank manufacturers in Australia are Bennett Surfboards and Burford Blanks. "

well im screwed, I was mad enough of the cost of shipping blanks that I was gonna drive four hours, now its just gonna suck even more.....

[k mac]

PapaW 4 now Ah 'nuff been said by other people now !!! sack it they gone ! And i live down the road from Home blown

[dondiemand]

this sucks, now the prices are gonna go up! i might have to cop me a new board real soon!

[little waves]

some local shops around here already started jacking up prices

hopefully this wont last long though, and another manufacturer will jump in and fill the void.

[tomcat360]

it looks like a good oppurtunity for a surfing-waves acommunity business! ha, too bad im not filthy dirty rich enough to start up another clark foam type thing and get their income.

was it because of pollution or something along those lines that they had to shut down? i kinda skimmed the article, and from that I got the drift that he didnt wanna talk about it. just heard "law suit"

[colin]

Shops around So Cal are already marking up 100-200$ on their boards. I called a number of places today and finally picked up a CI Flyer in Santa Monica at ZJ Boarding House without a markup. I went in after work to pick it up and they had already put a sign up on their surfboards that said they will not be selling any fiberglass boards until further notice. So, I made it just in time, it seemed like a mad rush when I was out today at the shops.

[deathfrog]

yeah it's sad...

anyone looking for an eps epoxy board with an un-jacked price??

[tomcat360]

while were on the subject-- is Extruded Polystryene insulation foam workable for a skimboard or surfboard? im using it for a skate press right now, not too expensive, and now i know what it works like(and how much of a mess I've made my garage)

[deathfrog]

yeah you just gotta get some really dense stuff... dcell is the optimum skimboard sdtuff

[sinistapenguin]

Tomcat - if you're using insulation foam, you can't use standard resin/ glass as it will just eat the foam away!

I know I made my sister a bodyboard and when I glassed it, it just melted away so I had to start again!!

There are other resins etc out there that will work, search the web and it'll tell you what combinations you can/ can't use.

Cheers

Sinista

[gulfsurfer]

Good thing all i ride is epoxy now.

[tomcat360]

prolly so. maybe I can now get a bit more for my thruster and get an epoxy

[surferdude18]

does this mean epoxy boards are still going to around ????

[gulfsurfer]

does this mean epoxy boards are still going to around ????

yes

[kitesurfer]

Shaped my last clark blank two weeks ago now. Seabase here in the uk are no longer supplying them to backyarders like myself. Have just ordered my first blanks from homeblown. Very helpful and i'm looking forward to seeing what the blanks are like. By all accounts they're good so fingers crossed.

[tomcat360]

are all the guys on swaylock's rather ticked about the news? havent check in there in a while....

[surf patrol]

Nice post jonny - while I was away I saw this news in the national paper and already they were reporting a shortfall. There is clearly a niche that needs to be filled and someone will need to step up quickly.

[Broosta]

Hey peeps just saw this post on another forum from my local shaper regarding the Clark Foam closure, thought it might throw a bit more light on it...


Hi All
I have just recieved a letter from Seabase, Regarding the closure of Clark foam in the US.
Copy of letter follows:

Dear Seabeast
I assume that you already know about the closure of Clark Foam. There is no doubt that Black Friday, as Clark Foams demise is being called in the USA, will have major repercussions in the industry. It already has.
The sudden void in surfboard production will not be easily filled. Some industry pundits predict the shortfall in blank, and therefore surfboard supply could top 500,000 in the short term. Many major players are making moves worldwide to secure supplies of blanks to head off their pre-season orders, which many say can simply not be fulfilled, let alone the huge spring and summer dealer orders that will leave shops desperately short of supplies. Australian manufacturers, already committed to supplying Asian and to a lesser extent, European demand, cannot ramp production to anywhere near the required levels.
Sooner or later, with such a huge void, market forces will move to take up the slack, but any attempt to do this quickly in the USA is subject to huge expense, planning delays-, and the logistics of getting a business to work as efficiently as Clark Foam has in the past: A consortium of manufacturers are rumored to be setting up a plant in Tijuana, Mexico. This will take time. The smaller producers will not have the manpower, money or time to move quickly enough to make foam.
The growing Chinese market, still dependent on Australian foam for their boards, may ramp production briefly, but again, blanks for which a premium will be paid by richer countries, will not be freely available. There is no doubt the Chinese will step in and produce foam as quickly as possible, free from the regulatory constraints that became a burden for Clark. (By the way - this is exactly the reasoning the USA has put forward for their disinterest in the Kyoto Agreement. The more pressure and regulation they apply in response to world-wide environmental pressures, the greater the exodus of manufacturing to countries where regulations are non-existent. The economy is harmed in the USA, China gets to build 500,000 blanks using whatever poisons they like with no regulation, and the world is 500,000 times worse off environmentally. What a dichotomy!)
Surfboard prices are rising quickly. In the USA, prices went up $100 - $200 overnight, and surfboard sales have spurted. We suspect the same will happen in Europe.
Since Seabase learned of the problem, at the same time as every other major distributor and user, we have moved quickly to limit our exposure. We believe we have secured some supplies of reasonable quality foam, and will distribute this on a priority basis to the most loyal customers in the next few months.
We do, however, predict that the shortage of foam, but not surfboards, may be short lived. Production ramping, new plants and desperate measures may well mean a glut of blanks after this summer. In the short term blank prices will rise by around 20-30%. However, this may well be offset by the huge glut of surfboard resin and fiberglass expected as a result.
Seabase however sees this current situation as a major opportunity, and not the disaster many predict. For some time we have been monitoring new technology, restrained by the higher prices but now convinced the market is at a watershed. We believe epoxy may well be the future, but not in pop-outs. Epoxy is safe, clean, (relatively), non-toxic (relatively) and best of all, solvent free. The blanks have been the problem, with air expansion, irregularities and weight being the problem.
Seabase has moved to secure the rights to the latest technology out of the USA, and will shortly be offering licensing agreements for new EPS/Epoxy technology refined to a point out of recognition to most previous EPS users. It will be cheap and for production purposes no more difficult to use than current PU/Polyester fabrication. The blanks, pre-shaped and pre-strung, can be used as a normal blank: It can be sprayed with graphics and glassed with epoxy and the usual fin systems fitted as normal.
We will continue to offer PU foam. We do believe its future is now limited. In addition to EPS, which is the fastest growing sector in the USA, other new foams that are 100% waterproof, and could probably be shaped and surfed, are beginning to appear. We have some and are experimenting this winter with this amazing material.

Murray K Steward.

Sadly it is not viable to work with epoxy as a temperature controlled enviroment is required and with Board prices set to rise here in the UK and cheap imports from China to compete with I feel it is not practical to continue with Board building. I will however continue with repairs as long as i still have materials.
Thanks to everyone who has bought a Seabeast over the years a total of 160 boards. I hope they served you well.
Many Thanks
Paul.
Seabeast Surfboards.

Hi
For me it is Going to be a problem over cost, Cheap imports from China and South Africa mean that I can't buy the raw materials as cheap as they can do a finished board. China has no legislation for health and safety so they can do as they wish keeping thier already low costs even lower.
Regarding Homeblown blanks I have used them in the past and they have been ok but they are not as close tolerence as Clark foam and require a lot more work to finish also they are a different structure to Clark they tend to have a very crystal like grain which tends to wear your tools out a lot quicker again adding to costs.
I have never made much profit from a board and with increases of 30% for blanks that just about wipes that out, I don't think People will be prepared to pay the higher price for a backyard Board when the bigger Factories like Custard point, Nigel Semmens, Gulfstream, Seaglass. ect. already have temperature controled enviroments to work in and can switch over to Epoxy with out much hassel.
PU Foam is on it's way out, Soon most manufactures will switch to EPS and I can't compete with that.
As for other Shapers/Builders I can't speak for them. Some will carry on as they are and increase costs but I also think that a lot will throw in the towel like I am doing.
Living here on the East Coast and making just a few boards a year is a lot different to living in Newquay and just popping out to get a blank from your supplier, I can't browse the racks to find something that is right for the build I am doing I have to work from a catalouge or take advice from someone on the end of the phone which is not always easy, Though I must say that the Guys at Seabase have never let me down and have always given me a top service.
Please don't think that I only made Boards for the profit, My main reson for starting in the first place was I got fed up paying out big bucks for a Board.
Boards are cheaper now than they have ever been relative to your wages, When I first started Surfing Boards were about £100-£120 pounds for a shortboard which was about a months wages back then Now with boards around £300-£375 on the racks in Newquay they are only a weeks money for most.
I have enjoyed Shaping and Board building since 1996 and I think I have learnt a lot about boards in that time.
But for me it's time to call it a day.
Cheers
Paul
Seabeast Surboards 1996-2005