The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Building materials providers yesterday predicted that global supply chain challenges will last well into mid-2022 but have prepared for the Christmas season early.

Brent Burrows, CBS Bahamas (Commonwealth Building Supplies) president, told Tribune Business he has sufficient inventory and expects consumer traffic to pick up this coming weekend, which will carry him through until the New Year.

“The biggest rates we have seen going up is the shipping rates, mainly inland freight and stuff like that. Then you have the huge delays. There is a huge trucking problem in Florida. A container that used to take two days to get here now takes us two weeks because they have no truckers,” he said.

CBS is expecting to receive its last Christmas container by the end of this week. However, trying to determine what will happen after the Christmas holidays is another matter. Mr Burrows added: “We’ve seen some categories get better, but to be quite honest, we don’t expect to see any ease up on the shipping delays until the middle of next year.”

Anthony Roberts, City Lumber Yard’s general manager, added: “The plywood and lumber market is on the move again as pricing is starting to trend upwards.”

Citing “inconsistencies” in the supply chain, with high prices in the early part of 2021 tapering off in the summer to early autumn before trending back up again, he added: “Sometimes we just have to wait and see if it will drop again, but things are holding high for right now.

“I can’t say if customers are absorbing the price yet because this is still new. It usually takes a week or two before it filters down here when everyone’s imports start arriving, not unlike what happened earlier this year. It’s not a whole lot of choices; you don’t really get to shop for a price. These days it’s a matter of if they have it or they don’t.”

Expecting these supply shortages to last into 2022 is something everyone should brace for,” Mr Roberts said. “I know I’ve had suppliers tell me to expect difficulties in receiving goods going into the first and second quarter of next year. Based on what’s been happening locally, and what I’m hearing in the US, I think this market will stay very strong going into next year,” he added.

“It’s been a rather mild winter in the north-east so far. So for the most part construction is ongoing up there. Typically if you get a lot of storms that hits the brakes and slows demand down a bit, but right now everything still seems to be moving.”