Price of timber on the UP

gsxr1

I have been using Chadwicks in Naas for the last year .
I do small odd job. Roof repair and seconds fixing. And so on.

I have been buying ply for them for this whole time till now.

A sheet of 1/2" WBP Ply cost

March - 17.00euro including tax

July _ 27.50euro including tax.

I have been off work in-between times with a broken leg so have not noticed the increase till now


I approached them with the docket this morning and he gave me a story about the price of timber going through the roof.

I am asking you guys if you have heard the same thing. Is this true??

I suspect they have been taking the micky out of me.

If they have there are plenty of other providers around.

musgravedk

yeah timber has gone up in last few months, and from what i hear is due to go up again in autumn

galwaytt

...oh yes it is, and it's going up again by end of year.

Ditto for steel and alu. Steel roofing products went up 20% on July 1, Alu is up 30%, and yesterday flat steel products (hangers, etc), went up 12%.

Board sheet products went up a short while ago, and are going up again on Aug 1st.

Insulation went up 6% on July 1st as well.

And as for lead times...............lol, don't even go there!

struggling1

Interesting.... why are building material costs now going up ?

Fewer houses are being built, are Builders Providers taking the mick ?

galwaytt

struggling1 wrote: »

Interesting.... why are building material costs now going up ?

Fewer houses are being built, are Builders Providers taking the mick ?

It has nothing to do with builders: they have to pay the increased prices now in place from the manufacturers.

Consider sawn timber.
For many years, much of the 'Swedish' and 'Finnish' high quality sawn timber, is, in fact, from Russian logs. Russia has now decided it's fed up providing (good) raw materials for others to 'add value' to, and are bringing in a series of tariff's over the coming years, for all log (i.e. non-processed) timber, they export. They want some of the 'added value' for themselves. So that's one element.
Secondly, don't confuse the Irish construction implosion with the rest of the world, which is whom we compete with, to buy timber in the first place. Timber, like oil, is traded on exchanges, daily. Irish buyers are having to bid against, say, traders from the big industrial nations, and consequently, are having to bid higher just to secure quantities for here. So that's another element.
Then, there's the fact that so many mills have either closed, or gone on short time over the last period, that the remainder now are running at either a higher capacity, or, for short time mills, with only XX m3 to produce in a week, need to charge more per m3 to cover the (fixed) costs, on a lower m3 output. So that's element no 3.

Then, there's sheathing products: OSB is one I'm most familiar with (but no expert, mind !). There are only a few companies making it, many plants, maybe, but only a few key companies. Many only produce one particular size, or thickness. So there isn't as much competition out there as you think. Then consdier that, again, many plants are closed, and even with existing demand, that they are now running at a higher capacity, so they're order books are actually full. I know of one very major manufacturer in mainland europe that has closed their order book for 9mm & 11mm ....for the next 12 months ! Their entire production for the next year is sold out ! :eek:

And where is this demand coming from ?
Well, if you go into your local stockist you'll find..........very little stock !! They have not been buying any stock for a while, existing on in-house inventory, and now that that is running low, they're going to the factories only to find..........no capacity to fill orders ! Look at it this way: I tried to buy a full bale of 18mm T & G flooring the other day, and couldn't find a single stockist within 60 miles with it: it's only 50 sheets ! Enough for one house !!

Some natural disasters have an effect too: plants in S. America got damaged last winter in earthquakes and knocked them out. Demand from war and natural disasters (Haiti and Iraq) are soaking up huge quantities of material. If a govt orders 100's of 1000's of m3 from a mill, that mill isn't going to give two buttons for a stockist in the West of Ireland, now is he ?

Like oil prices, the only way, for now, is up !

This pattern is repeated in a whole bunch of industries: steel, alu, insulation etc etc.

Forgot to add, even when you do source it, lead times are gone nuts. 9 weeks+ for OSB. I have a backorder for one size still open since Sept 09 !! I currently have 10,000m2 on order.........can't get it half fast enough........

galwaytt

did anyone else hear the article on Morning Ireland yesterday morning, re timber and prices, etc ?

It said log prices in Ireland are up 50% in the last 6 months, (so grower's are happy), and that we are now importing logs from Scotland, simply to meet demand for our domestic mills.

It is estimated that in the next 3 (..iirc) years, we will have an annual shortfall of 1,800,000m3 of timber in this country alone.

Add in all the other factors, and no prices for guessing which way prices will be going, for some considerable time to come.........

DOCARCH

Heard from a 'reliable' source that cost of concrete blocks went up as the manufacturer (one of our biggest plcs), while selling less block, wanted to try and keep overall profits the same.

gsxr1

Was Up in Mc carthys in properous today. He seems to be keeping his prices low compared to chadwicks.

I was shown why. He has about 100 tonnes of the stuff stored . WBP , OSB , shuttering ply. Massive amounts bought in bulk before the rise.

have to admire his for site