update Rising Consents

Festive greetings, I hope the run up to Christmas is going well for everyone in industry, given the supply constraints, alert level changes and disruptions we all continue to navigate.

Despite the challenges we have all faced the industry continues to experience strong demand. The latest Residential consent data for the year to September 2021 set a record of 47,331 consents. The market value for the 12 months to September is $20.1b, up 26% year on year. September also saw 4,483 new homes consented, close to the highest number set the previous month of 4,490 new homes. Townhouses remain the hot favourite in Auckland, making up 47% of all Auckland’s new consents in the year to September 2021, vs 21% of all new consents for the rest of New Zealand.

Non-residential (commercial) consents for the year to September 2021 also rose by 10% to $7.7b year on year. This data indicates the potential for sustained strong demand for our industry and is positive news.

To ensure you have the best possible selection of product and decors Laminex has launched several exciting updates. First cab off the rank is expanding our popular Laminex Acrylic Panel range to include a 26mm panel. We are also launching 31 x 1mm ABS and 31 x 1.2mm laser, to edge these sheets. Our Laminex Woodgrain Collection range will also be available in 25mm panels with matching 31 x 1.2mm laser edgetape for all decors and 31 x 1mm ABS edgetape. We are building stock now with all decors available by the end of January.

Last month we launched exciting new Melteca colours across Melteca Standard, Jumbo and Hi-Gloss ranges. The new Standard decors take inspiration from international ‘light & bright’ colour trends. Dark organic timber tones, on-trend around the world, are reflected in our new Woodgrain decors. Look out for our new Melteca catalogue and updated folder artwork. Merchandising started in November for areas of New Zealand at Alert L2. Check out our website at www.laminex.co.nz for more information and for samples!

Thanks to everyone who participated in our recent customer survey. It helps us to prioritise and focus on the key areas we need to improve. We appreciate the opportunity to listen to feedback on how we can better serve our customers.

We know collectively this is the busiest time of year and it’s been great to have so many customers ordering online after registering at Laminex.co.nz/e-commerceregistration. We also appreciate so many customers consolidating, rather than making several small orders, as it’s more efficient and productive.

As we head into the festive break, I’m reminded of the Wellbeing session with Mike King at the Master Joiners Conference in March. He urged us to take care of our own mental wellbeing and that of our family, friends and workmates. One of the most powerful things we can do is check in with our team - take time to listen to each other and know it’s ok to ask for help.

Enjoy your festive break and we look forward to working with you all in 2022!

Mike Arthur General Manager Laminex New Zealand