Price of timber supplies to rise in tight market

Just as the great Kiwi summer DIY season is upon us, timber throughout New Zealand is heading into shorter supply, particularly for decking, landscaping and outdoor jobs.

Chiefs of Placemakers, Bunnings and Mitre 10 said demand had risen sharply lately.

Bruce Mcewen, chief executive of distribution for Fletcher Building, which owns the national 63-store Placemakers chain, and Bunnings chief executive Jacqui Coombes acknowledged a somewhat unusual situation.

Jared Bernard, Mitre 10 NZ’S building products merchandise manager, said that since the first lockdown the business had seen customers invest in improving their homes.

“A key area has been within landscaping — customers wanting to build a new deck, put up a fence and so on. Mitre 10 is working closely with our supplier base to mitigate any stock shortages, but demand has surged so much that the supply of some timber products is challenged,” Bernard said.

Fletcher’s Mcewen said timber supply volumes were well down and although products were available now, reserves were short.

Bunnings’ Coombes said demand for decking timber in particular had temporarily exceeded supply at some higher-volume stores nationally but suppliers were supporting Bunnings with fresh stock every week to meet demand.

Mcewen said: “Timber supply is tight right across New Zealand. That means everything from structural framing products through to the landscaping products like decking, fence palings, railings, etc.”

The Covid shutdown and gloomy economic forecasts had combined to create the situation, he said.

“You’ve got the perfect storm: aftereffects of the Covid shutdown and a busy market, at volumes no one forecast.

“So when you go back to May and June, demand was forecast to be much lower than it really has been,” Mcewen said.

Volumes of pine and hardwoods were much lower than usual at this time of the year.

“Fletcher itself and a number of other businesses were predicting much lower market activity than what has come through. There’s normally a stock build process in the quieter winter months. But Covid changed that,” he said.