Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1392944
JULY 2021 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 35 Stevens: Yes it is. What we are trying to avoid is having customers make a large purchase, dis- appear for six months, then come back looking for foil. at just disrupts the whole balance. We are working with our customers to keep things nice and even. If you know what your forecasts are, work to your forecast. We under- stand that this can be a very difficult thing to do in this business from time to time. But it is the panic buys that are extremely disruptive to our manufacturing process. Johnson: Based on some of the ongoing pres- sures, the urge to panic-buy in copper could easily happen. Stevens: Yes, it could. And it's a trickle-down ef- fect across the whole industry. Whether you're in ED foil or rolled annealed materials as well, ultimately, it's the base supply that's being con- sumed. Johnson: Right. Well, that's good advice. Gen- tlemen, thank you. Coll: ank you. PCB007 Michael Coll is chief operating officer, and Chris Stevens is global sales manager, at Denkai America Inc. segment here in the U.S. e foils manufac- tured in our factory here in South Carolina are typically used in legacy military, defense, and aerospace type applications. We don't foresee the bulk of these applications changing in de- sign quickly. Johnson: Chris, how would you characterize this situation? Stevens: We live this every day, and you hit right on the key points. For the PCB industry, especially, let's be patient. Please do not over- buy. Maintaining the strong relationships with your suppliers and working together on pro- curements will get us all through this. I don't want to be the guy to say this, but I believe supply is going to continue to be tight at least through the end of the year. As we see exist- ing mines increase their production, copper availability will start to loosen up, but it's go- ing to be a little while before we see anything stabilize. Johnson: Picking up on your point there, Chris, "don't over-buy" is advice which makes a lot of sense. at does put the responsibility back on you to be a reliable supplier so that they don't need to over-buy. at's a lot of a responsibility in this current market situation.