Look out plywood users!!!!

[bleeth]

If you haven't bought any plywood in the last few weeks you are in for a rude shock.
Price of import has jumped 26-29 percent.
Price of Domestic has also taken a nice leap upwards.

Hitting Melamine, PB and MDF as well.

This is caused by selective tariff put on the Chinese for the import and the domestic manufacturers claim it is the higher price of energy and fuel.

My suppliers all say there is more to come. If you don't take this into account on pricing out jobs you will be hurt. If you do, you will likely be hurt by those who price jobs without factoring in increased material costs. Looks like a rough ride for a while.

If you think it won't affect you, I will be glad to offer you my shop for a good price.

[dlcw]

Your right Dave. All our Chinese imported stuff just took a 25%+ jump in price (I don't usually use Chinese stuff as I don't care to have my bits destroyed by imbedded metal fragments).

Domestics took a little bump, but not as bad as I thought it would. After all, the idea behind the tariffs was to level the playing field between domestic and foreign makers. We'll see how that plays out, huh..... :rolleyes:

[billp]

Just WAIT until they sort out all of the politics regarding WHO is going to pay for the rebuilding, restoring,and remodeling of the tens of thousands of homes/buildings that were destroyed during Sandy on the East Coast....!
Plywood could be a safer "haven" than gold in the upcoming months...

[andyb]

One of my supplier told me a month ago to expect a 20% price increase on plywood by June. It looks like it may go higher than that. I went to pickup some material today at another supplier and talking with him he told me that their china birch just went up $7 a sheet and may increase more with the next shipment they get in.

I have a customer that is asking for a link to an article that he can post on his website to explain to his customer why his prices are increasing. Does anybody know a link that explains what is going on?

Andy B.

[myxpykalix]

I think it is obama's fault....lol:D
It seems like with gas prices, we hear these phony baloney excuses of "unrest in the middle east" or other things that can't be verified as excuses to justify price increases.
Frankly i think it is the wholesale printing of dollars that has led to the devaluing of the dollar making mfg's have to raise prices to make up for the drop in the value.:eek:

[dlcw]

Actually Jack, there was a recent ruling by, I think the Commerce Department (or one of the hundreds of government agencies) that awarded a tariff increase as petitioned by the Plywood Association of America (or whatever name they go by) to level the playing field with Chinese companies who have been dumping material on the US markets below cost and having the Chinese government subsidize those companies to keep them solvent.

So now, instead of being able to use cheap Chinese material in projects, the Plywood Association is trying to make domestic materials more competitive.

[myxpykalix]

I saw this same kind of thing with the steel industry and the japanese 40 years ago. Most all the steel mills closed up in the East Chicago, Gary, Indiana area long ago and this boggles my mind how wood from 10 miles down the road made into plywood here can be more expensive then something from half a world away...:eek:

[bleeth]

The plywood made "down the road" is made in a plant that pays US Real Estate Taxes, Interest on it's financing, US wages and benefits, and the lumber used in it is grown in sustainable forest plantations, and has stringent quality control.

The plywood made in China is made in a plant built with government money on government land and the workers get paid bubkas. The wood is coming from raped forests. On top of all this the Chinese government subsidizes the plant with additional funds and ships it at a fraction of what other lines charge for ocean freight.

What gripes me is that this is far from the only subsidized industry over there and there are plenty of subsidized industries here, like oil, corn, sugar, etc.

Other countries, like our good neighbors to the North, also subsidize wood products production with subsidized freight costs (fuel credits, etc.)

To nail the plywood business at this moment to this extent just seems totally counter intuitive to "helping the economic recovery"

This could be the starting bell in a back and forth round of tariff battles. In the meantime, everything is going up here except average wages, which continue to drop.

[burchbot]

I have a veneer splicing company ten blocks from me. Ten years ago they had 110 workers on the floor. Five years ago it was down to 50 - 60. They had a huge lay off in Nov. and were down to 24. Right now they are at 35. Some of those people don’t know if they will ever be called back. Sad to watch it happen.
Dan

[dlcw]

Did you guys know that China has ships (manufacturing plants) off our coast that take trees from ours and Canada's forests, transport it out to these ships, turn it into plywood and bring it right back on shore and sell it here?

Having spent many years (70's and 80's) in the Coast Guard performing fishing treaties enforcement in Alaska and off the west coast of the US, this system was developed by foreign countries taking fish from our waters (legally under treaty), processing it on 800' processing ships and then shipping it back to fish companies and restaurant chains in the USA. A lot of the catch they also took back to their countries, but a large portion was sold right back here in the USA.

Interesting way to do business.

[BTP]

attached the dept of commerce fact sheet.

My double sided prefinished 3/4" plywood went from $41 to $51
My double sided 3/4" ply HPL white laminate went from $45 to $55

There is also another investigation ruling coming in the next 30 days.