ACD Press Release

Arlington, VA – The National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD) welcomes today’s hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on “Industry and Labor Perspectives: A Further Look at North American Supply Chain Challenges.”

Severe supply chain challenges are affecting a wide range of industries and consumers across the United States, including the chemical distribution industry. NACD is a trade association of chemical distributors and their supply-chain partners, whose member companies process, formulate, blend, re-package, warehouse, transport, and market chemical products for over 750,000 customers. NACD members supply products that are necessary for water treatment, food preservation, agricultural processes, pharmaceutical and vaccine production, as well as products needed to manufacture firefighting materials, sanitation products, and more.

Currently, chemical products such as glycerin, citric acid, sodium chlorite, sulfamic acid, among other materials, are struggling to move through the supply chain quickly enough to meet basic demand. This situation continues to deteriorate, and it is putting Americans in jeopardy of having insufficient access to clean water, inadequate medical supplies, limited food production and preservation capabilities, and more. As the U.S. continues to deal with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, security of this supply chain is more important than ever.

Because many chemical products are no longer made in the U.S., NACD members must source these chemicals from overseas manufacturers. They depend on reliable ocean transportation to bring the materials into the U.S. and deliver them to the customers who need them for critical functions. Recently, NACD members have faced severe delays, skyrocketing costs, and outright order rejections from ocean shipping carriers. NACD members are having extreme difficulty finding carriers that will transport hazardous materials vital to national security, including chemical products used to support essential infrastructure operations and are necessary components of life-saving medical treatments. Without intervention, the chemicals that our national infrastructure relies on are at risk of running out.

“NACD appreciates the attention of this Committee to our nation’s supply chain challenges and we encourage Congress and the administration to explore innovative ideas, improvements and solutions from businesses large and small,” said Eric R. Byer, President and CEO of NACD. “We encourage this Committee to advance the bipartisan Ocean Shipping Reform Act (H.R.4996) and stand ready to work with all parties involved to ensure the continued supply of goods critical to national security and economic prosperity.”

 

NACD’s full statement as submitted to the Committee can be read here.