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editorial
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Can’t see the wood for the trees?
GEEZ – WHAT A first quarter to calendar 2021...
There have been some big personnel shifts among the retailers and merchants (see pages 4 and 5) and there’s more to come, in the opinion of some pundits.
Among the workers, companies looking to recruit say the workforce is happy and more than busy where they are and their employers are happy to pay them to stay.
Having said that, it’s a seller’s market right now...
On top of all this, demand continues at what one executive is calling “perilously” high levels and we all know there are supply shortages.
But it’s a shortfall in structural timber that’s the big talking point.
Supply that had possibly been taken for granted was cut off – and at very short notice.
At a time when the industry talks of transparency and partnerships, even the merchants who retained that line of supply found out at the same time as those who’d lost it.
Plus, the general media has made a Really Big Thing about all this.
Even the Commerce Commission is reported as saying it is going to investigate the circumstances and “make some
inquiries to understand the nature of the issue”.
In terms of the whys and wherefores, the New Zealand Timber Industry Federation notes the recent loss of five big sawmills, representing some 400,000 cubes of timber production.
“Whilst the remaining sawmills have taken steps to plug the shortfall, lost capacity to service the local market is evident,” says the NZTIF, although adding that it “doesn’t expect the current timber shortage to be overly prolonged.”
Be that as it may, Red Stag Group CEO, Marty Verry, in an opinion piece you
can find on our website, says although the shortfall is in the order of 5-10%, “this is a problem at a time when the Government is trying to scale up construction.”
Looking out there, this winter will probably see residential construction activity falling off as it usually does (famous last words?) but putting the timber shortage right will still take months.
In this respect, good on Marty for reminding the industry that engineered timber (including Red Stag’s) is a viable alternative to structural stick timber.
And good on the steel framing lobby for getting its 10 cents’ worth in on this issue.
Steel & Tube for example says: “The time is right for steel framed housing
to be pursued as a faster, lighter, cost effective and more sustainable solution for both bespoke and high-volume residential homes.”
With New Zealand’s structural timber output at capacity, perhaps that’s fair comment?
Steve Bohling, editor steveb@mpm.nz
2 NZHJ | APRIL 2021
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