As the threat of storms begin to materialize for The Bahamas this hurricane season, the price of lumber, driven up by effects from the COVID-19 pandemic, is beginning to normalize, Abaco Chamber of Commerce President Ken Hutton told Guardian Business yesterday, adding though that plywood prices remain elevated and supplies low.
This year, lumber prices soared 300 percent above where they stood pre-pandemic, as the effects of shuttered factories and stymied global supply chains drove inflation.
However, Hutton said the good news is those prices are now decreasing by as much as eight to ten dollars, while the bad news of shipping delays remain.
“As we speak I just received two flatbeds of lumber here and all with the exception of maybe three (types of wood) that have stayed the same, all the prices are coming down and they are coming down significantly,” said Hutton.
“Plywood is still crazy, but the dimensional lumber, those are coming down. Supply chains are stretched and there are a lot of long lead times.”
He said in addition to plywood, there are other hardware items that are still difficult to source, including joint compound and sheet rock.
According to Hutton, there is not much worry yet about the traveling storm that has The Bahamas, Caribbean and Florida on alert.
Abaco is still rebuilding from the devastating effects of Hurricane Dorian two years ago.
Hutton said the summer heat and the continuing effects of the pandemic have slowed construction on Abaco.
“I think that it’s a combination of a number of factors, one being that it’s summer and it’s just so hot out there,” he said. “The resurgence in COVID has put a damper on it to an extent and I think that the prices have certainly put a damper on people’s ability to rebuild.”
He added that continuing shipping woes have window and door orders backed up for more than four months in some cases.
He said he is hopeful that a decrease in prices and the effects of cooler weather later in the year will prompt construction to return on the island.
The post Lumber prices normalizing after sharp increase appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/lumber-prices-normalizing-after-sharp-increase/
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