STATE OF THE INDUSTRY

Reports from Branch Presidents February 2022

AUCKLAND / NORTHLAND

Auckland region over all has started this year with a good amount of forward work and plenty of activity, however, there is concern where 2022 may end up. We are hearing in the market that building projects are being put on hold or cancelled mainly due to the ever-increasing cost of materials across the building sector which is putting projects well over budget and no longer affordable.

Hardware suppliers now holding higher stock levels is making business a lot smoother in the exterior timber window and door sector, however the kitchen industry is still on restricted supply, hence completing jobs is difficult.

We are seeing continuing price increases in imported timber, due to world supply and demand and the current cost of shipping. Supply of Cedar and the ever-increasing cost is at a level we haven’t experienced before. The cost of cedar increased 60% in 2021, with February 2022 seeing a further 15% increase. Selected sizes of Cedar are also very limited, resulting in joiners in having to use uneconomical sizes and thus increasing their costs of manufacture.

Covid 19 with the latest Omicron variant is going to bring ongoing challenges and financial pressures to many businesses in 2022, with staff absentees due to self-isolation of staff and the potential of having your business closed down for a period of time.

It is looking promising that Auckland / Northland will finally get to have a meeting in February under the new traffic light system, after numerous cancellations in 2021. The annual fishing trip is also going ahead in February which we are all looking forward to. -

Rob Pickup

our industry safe by holding this event later this year. This is always a great day out and it’s good to catch up with everyone in the industry. Last week’s Canterbury Master Joiners meeting was held by Zoom as once again we were trying to keep everyone safe from Omicron. There was some very good discussions on how we are all handling health and safety in our work places. We talked about social distancing in our lunchrooms and making your tea or coffee and sitting outside while the weather is nice. And the need for delivery truck drivers staying in their trucks while being unloaded. Client meetings have also changed with many now only by appointments and sales reps needing to ring or text for an appointment instead of just calling in. This all to protect ourselves, our families and our employees.

We are keeping our fingers crossed that we might be able to hold our annual Canterbury Master Joiner Awards on April 29th. Members are getting photos ready for their award boards and looking forward to a great social evening.

On the farm, it’s been really wet, but the warm summer has contributed to lots of grass growth with less irrigation, which is always a good saving. The calves and heifers are growing really well. The cost of everything is going through the roof just as they are in the joinery industry.

-

Nathan Busch

Central

and are having to travel to the big centres to get these. Fingers crossed for the coming months when the NZ Residency Pool is due to open up again. Hopefully this will give some of our valued staff more security. I know I am looking forward to this! As a region, Central are still finding that training new staff is still the way to go. There is still a lack of experienced staff to be able to recruit in the region. Central Members took on nineteen apprentices last year. The goal now is to train and retain them in the area!

Our Committee in Central is really trying hard to get some new social events on the calendar this year. Covid is still playing havoc with this, however we will be doing our best to push through and make sure we can all have some fun this year (following all of the rules of course). On that note – I am hoping that Conference will be able to go ahead this year in May. It will be great for all of us to come together and for me to meet some more of the members in other regions. Crossing my fingers and toes!

- Kristine Holmes

HAWKES BAY/POVERTY BAY first lock down. Will be interesting to see how this affects our ability to schedule jobs over the next few months. Looking forward to conference and pushing through with another exciting year. -

Greg Rabbitte

NELSON / MARLBOROUGH Workload

Work bookings are looking good / great in fact, probably 4 - 6 months in front of most. The blend of work is both new builds and renovations, plenty of it. A little bit of competition with the larger jobs in the area.

Material Supply

Material supply is what it is, planning and lead in times are certainly a lot longer than the old normal, communication with designers and clients is critical over this point.

Contracts and Finance

There doesn’t seem to be any problems or themes with payments or contracts other than normal.

Staffing

Canterbury

The Canterbury region is facing extremely high demands for new builds and renovations. This is the highest demand our region has ever experienced. Most joinery firms are now looking for more experienced staff to keep up with demand.

Unfortunately, our bi-annual golf tournament has had to be postponed due to the Omicron outbreak. We felt that it was in the best interest to keep

This year is already flying by! Where did January go? I haven’t had a chance to catch up with many of the Central Members since everyone has been on holiday. I am assuming like us, they hit the ground running and the relaxing holiday was soon forgotten. So far this year we have not run into any stock issues. Supply seems to be steady. We are however still trying to order two to three months in advance so that our suppliers have plenty of warning.

Price increases are still being sent through on a regular basis. It is increasingly hard to quote on fixed price tenders – especially as the build times are unknown due to hold ups on building materials. Staff who are stuck in the Immigration queue are finding it hard to book medicals in the smaller regions

Hawkes Bay Poverty Bay Master Joiners’ saw in the summer period with a busy amount of work, even with the supply issues that we were having. Wetter than normal, but still warm holiday period was experienced in the Hawkes Bay and a well-earned break had by all. Now that we are back into the swing of things the typical tidy up of jobs from pre-xmas has now seen us through into February. A busy workload for most and common words on everyone’s lips are the shortage of staff

Our last local meeting was held pre Xmas with a land yachting competition. A new experience for most but well-liked by everyone and something that we will do again. Mini golf evening scheduled for our next meeting, which is great to help encourage more people to attend. All work and no play makes for a boring Joiner.

The inevitable covid cloud is almost upon us, with many companies wondering how this will impact their business. Supply issues of plasterboard resonates with a very similar lolly scramble, for what we saw of the toilet paper saga in the

With the current workloads staffing is becoming a little more in focus (perhaps an understatement), with longer term staff retiring and some ‘jumping’ going on, staff are becoming aware of their worth, so focus needs to be kept on training and keeping the pipeline energised, as an industry.

In summary staffing and material supply are the big issues and both require a lot of thought, planning and communication.

-

Phil Agnew

Otago Southland

The Otago-Southland region has started this year well after a solid year in 2021. Across the region and in almost all sectors the construction pipelines are strong. Local joiners are reporting a good outlook on workloads. Labour and supply constraints remain, coupled with rising costs.

On the labour side, apprentice training is looking good for the future with strong numbers locally and nationally, although it will be some time before this translates to a larger and stronger workforce for the industry.

Supply chain and cost pressures remain as the most significant of the short-term risks. Global supply chains are yet to recover from their COVID interruptions. On the cost side, global demand for raw materials is driving up the price of nearly everything we touch. The ultimate insult here is that it now costs a lot more to have a lot less reliable supply chain. Let’s hope that this corrects itself quickly.

For the local joiners, we have an awesome pipeline of events coming in 2022. We’ve attached each one of our meetings to some form of Factory Tour (3), Golf Day, Supplier Info Night, NKBA co-meeting, MDF Plant visit – and this is just in the first half of the year!

Employees, staff, and all local and regional associate members are welcome. I look forward to catching up with you all soon.

- Reuben Bogue

Taranaki

Well with the winter weather upon us, cool mornings, rain, wind and then the odd day of winter sun. It was so nice to sit in the sun and watch the Taranaki Bulls and Hawkes Bay Magpies play at picturesque Pukekura Park last Saturday. It was a rare opportunity to lose myself for a couple of hours, with no thought of the hectic week just been, or the one coming up.

Taranaki is still very buoyant with most members reporting in that they have very good work-loads coming into the summer months. Times have surely changed, we now have to be really organised, making sure we can get material in time to do the jobs, or the constant worry of yet another delay.

All the above seem to be very common now, having kitchens and other products sitting around on the factory floor waiting for an extra couple of weeks, waiting to be installed, as builders are facing delays with materials too.

More time is spent checking availability of board materials and hardware requirements for each job and finding alternative products to replace what we can’t get in time. Staffing continues to be a problem too, finding the right people with the right attitude, to fill the vacancies. We are also trying to think outside the square to attract young people to the industry. We need to get into the high schools and talk to the careers advisors and put our industry on the map.

There are a number of projects currently underway in Taranaki, with most trade based companies busy, even oil and gas. Don’t worry they are still drilling land-based wells, so hopefully that means we can use the gas to power our houses. Onwards and upwards into the summer months, and the warmer weather. - Bryan Frank

WAIKATO/BOP

2022 has arrived and our Waikato/ BOP Members have enjoyed a holiday period of outstanding weather and more freedom to move around our beautiful country as the Delta restrictions eased. Many of us spent time relaxing at the various lakes and beaches in our region. We are spoilt for choice here in the Waikato/BOP. I caught my first Trevally in the Waihi/Bowentown harbour!

Indications toward the end of last year that supply issues would continue to make doing business difficult into 2022 were not wrong. Building supplies, timber and gib in particular, are having a huge impact on managing workloads for our Schedulers and is requiring constant communication with our Builders and Project Managers to ensure we have work flowing through our factories. Members are planning on it getting worse before we start to see improvements.

Cost increases are putting pressure on businesses throughout the Region. Many increases are now in double digits over the past 12 month period. As lead times continue to increase with many factors out of our control, the question of how we deliver fixed prices to our clients AND secure our gross margins will require some rethinking for many of us through this volatile period. The short term effects of extended lead times and material delays on cashflow is also concerning for the first two quarters of 2022. Residential building and renovation enquiry remains strong. Big workloads are reported among our Members, with one Member booked till the end of the year. Omicron is now among us and threatens to postpone our Ken Monk Annual Fishing Trip as well as make Event planning challenging for this year. Our Members have missed many occasions to meet face-to-face in the past year and enjoy the camaraderie we are used to. This is an important part of our Membership experience and we hope to be able to share some good times together again soon. - Cherie van

der Poel and Craig Mackie

Waitaki Region

The Waitaki region has started the year once again very busy with many enjoying their summer break and upon returning feeling like they haven’t had a break. There are many opportunities for pricing which is putting the pressure on and making many estimators very busy, with a lot of members pushing work out into the future based on material supply and full workloads.

Staffing is still and will continue to be an ongoing issue with a large number of factories looking for trade staff that are simply not available. Once again materials and hardware supply are proving problematic, with both fuel and subsequently freight costs escalating month on month, but generally members are working through these issues with alternatives or securing product early.

Constant price increasers have made pricing extremely difficult with product quotes being valid for very short time frames and there making it hard to keep valid pricing for more than a month.

All our members indicate that clients are generally paying on time with the odd straggler requiring a bit of prompting. The positive in this side of this discussion is that people are happily securing future work with deposits in advance making it easier for members to secure goods in a timely fashion and having confirmed work to put into their planners or programs early to be able to manage.

In general, the Waitaki area seems to be moving forward well with most, if not all, members having a full workbook from mid to late 2022. It is also noted with some concern that the distinct possibility of staff absenteeism will need to be managed carefully as the onset of Omicron in the South is realistically only a matter of time, however the network that Waitaki has developed has been both helpful and encouraging with discussions at meetings being positive and helpful for those members with concerns. -

Gary Firman

Wellington

I learnt a few things last year:

1. Organisation is Key

2. Kiwis are impatient (me included)

3. You can never have enough stock

4. There is such a thing as “too much work”

5. How to say NO..... nah that’s a lie but I’m working on it

Let’s face it, we are all talking about the same stuff

It’s not only a problem for us, but for the industry as a whole. Even a local independent Joinery Installer can feel the rising pressure in the industry They say: “Supply issues are on the rise and will continue for the foreseeable future. I ordered 3 items from one supplier coming out of 3 different warehouses around the world. Products are taking longer to arrive and ETAs are changing all the time. Went into a general building supply store the other day. Wanted to get some timber. There was plenty of stock in front of me. Got told I couldn’t have any because it’s all pre-sold. The prices will go up and lead times will rise due to global freight issues. I’m stocking up on my stock and will continue to do so.”

... Some hard facts there and it’s happening everywhere ...

A lot of local members are getting called from outside the Wellington Region, asking if we can do any work ... Ahhhh No ... Who has the time? At the moment, it’s not about price, it’s more about time frames. Stressful times!! - Grant

And Ulli