03/20/2021
Hello,
I just wanted to drop everyone a line. This spring and summer are looking to be a little crazy.
The housing market continues to be very strong as we progress into 2021, and we are seeing high
demand for all building materials. The global supply chain is still challenged by the Covid-19 pandemic
and the delays and restraints that has put on raw material suppliers. These challenges have caused
inflation in material cost, fuel cost, Freight and logistics and labor costs. Several PVC resin suppliers have
now filed Force Majeure and vinyl extruders have followed suit. This has led to increased vinyl costs (windows) and
resin surcharges (windows, fiberglass doors and MDF molding) beyond any expectations. That coupled with continued price increases in steel,
hardware, lumber and fuel has added extreme cost pressures.
I've already gotten word from Prime windows that they will be experiencing an 8% price increase on June 1st. I fully expect other window companies to follow suit shortly. I have also gotten word from the MDF mills that a price increase is eminent.
We're already experiencing issues with availability on some molding profiles. The mills tell me they hope to have these issues remedied as early as late April. Insiders tell me that may be a little optimistic. I got word that Therma Tru Doors is running at about 50% capacity due to resin shortages in their fiberglass facility. So far, that hasn't effected supply yet, but I expect there could issues moving forward. Steel doors seem to be no issue at this time, although there may be an impending issue with the availability of jamb stock.
So far we have been able to roll with these issues relatively seamlessly by working with multiple suppliers for those products being effected.
I'll try to keep everyone in my circle up to date as things change. In the meantime, be prepared for a bit of a rodeo in 2021.
Regards,
Craig
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