Cost of raw materials

[Mickwhitt 4,642]

Hi all. We have all noticed the price of raw materials rising.

Here in the UK its becoming a real problem.

This is a snippet from the BBC news this morning.

Timber prices up 50% is ridiculous.

Our local DIY superstore is empty of most things. Steel is so expensive too.

Mrs W won't be getting her next projects anytime soon lol.

Mick 

[Stormin 9,981]

 They blame it on covid but the EU spitting the dummy out, has a lot to do with it in this country.

[Mickwhitt 4,642]

You think so Norm?  And getting nil points in Eurovision.

They really don't like us.

Plus all the shipping containers are in the wrong place because China is not buying anything from us. 

Its a bit of a mess. 

[Maxwell-8 4,277]

1 minute ago, Mickwhitt said:

Plus all the shipping containers are in the wrong place because China is not buying anything from us.

The only country that has a positif trade-balance with china is Germany. 

 

There are limited containers coming from china. It's like an auction, how offers the most to get his container to the EU/US. I think we should stop with producing so much in Asia. We have seen so many job losses because of it.  For example small engines. There are only two brands still producing small engine in the EU/ UK/ Yanmar and honda GC. I think the problem is even bigger in the US.

 

 

[Ed Kennell 38,227]

6 hours ago, Mickwhitt said:

Timber prices up 50% is ridiculous.

 

I paid $9.95 for one 8' 2x4 last week at my local ACE hardware store.    No, it was not pressure treated, just a common #2 whitewood.

 

It might be time to stop printing money and paying people not to work.

[Mickwhitt 4,642]

39 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

It might be time to stop printing money and paying people not to work

You think so?  DEFINITELY!

We can't afford to have people sitting round doing nothing.

I spoke to some young men playing football and drinking a few months ago, asking if they were ready to go back to work. They were not, why should they when they get paid to do this.

So much fraud too, people claiming for anything and everything even if they were not entitled to it. 

At present everyone wants everything on a plate. We have a top footballer appealing for food to be provided to Britain's starving children. FFS they all have mobiles, Sky TV and fashion trainers, there are no starving children, just a footballer on wages that would make a royal blush who gives up his spare time (but not one penny piece of his income).

No one takes responsibility here, its always someone else to blame. My kid is fat so its the government,  I'm in debt so its the credit card companies, I'm not well so its the health service.

Sorry I'm ranting but this really gets my goat. Today a criminal trial collapsed due to the charges being laid not actually being an offence! How on earth our prosecution decided to go ahead is beyond me. Oh, wait, no, yes it's because the people who were behind this wanted someone to blame for their own failings. 

Heaven help us in the next two decades!

Worried of Wombwell 

[WHX?? 48,828]

Calm down Mick gonna give yerself a heart attack and we don't want that. 

The bright side is folks are spending or so it seems in my business. Even with the huge price increases I have to pass along. I would love to put up a new horse barn but with the lumber even 'fraid to price one out! 

I like to believe things will stabilize once things get back in their groove. 

[Racinbob 11,093]

1 hour ago, Ed Kennell said:

 

I paid $9.95 for one 8' 2x4 last week at my local ACE hardware store.    No, it was not pressure treated, just a common #2 whitewood.

 

It might be time to stop printing money and paying people not to work.

 

I couldn't agree more. I had a long spiel typed out to post here but then I realized that, while not political, it did seem to have political tones to it.  delete, delete, delete.....................

[WHX?? 48,828]

42 minutes ago, Racinbob said:

it did seem to have political tones to it.

Yes lets not give the mods a heart attack either Bob! 

[Rusty Tinsnips 477]

Lumber prices have tripled in my area. Labor wages have doubled and I still can't staff my concrete construction company. We are on the razor's edge of folding.

I have had to turn down $140,000 worth of work in the last 6 weeks. Can't even get labor from staffing companies.

Edited May 26, 2021 by Rusty Tinsnips

[oliver2-44 9,761]

With Austin and the Texas Hill Country and Lakes area  booming prices have risen dramatically.  To buy a house you have to out bid the other buyers over the listing price.  

I've watched the Tesla factory construction at a distance every time I drive to the farm. Their working 24/7 and at night the place is lit up brighter than daylight.

 

[Ed Kennell 38,227]

38 minutes ago, oliver2-44 said:

  To buy a house you have to out bid the other buyers over the listing price.

Same here....all houses go to the highest bidder over the asking price.

[Stormin 9,981]

Petrol. £1-28 ltr. Diesel £1-32. Keep this up and it'll be a donkey and cart for me.

[Maxwell-8 4,277]

11 minutes ago, Stormin said:

Petrol. £1-28 ltr. Diesel £1-32. Keep this up and it'll be a donkey and cart for me.

Luckily our Wheel Horses are not very thirsty. 

 

1 hour ago, Rusty Tinsnips said:

I still can't staff my concrete construction company.

You can't understand it, unemployment is high, yet companies are having a hard time finding staff. I believe the are all hurt on their pinky or so

Luckily we aren't seeing those things yet. Homes a bit further way from cities, or homes with big gardens. You could even say they are falling in prices as to everybody is moving to the city. The all wanne live in these fancy overpriced, cheaply constructed apartments. Even the smallest villages have multiple apartment complexes. 

 

Had to a extra retaining wall on one past week, 5 people came over and asked  what I was doing. And that it was illegal. They even got the syndic to shut us down for a few weeks.  But now, I am getting 

 

Edited May 26, 2021 by Maxwell-8

[Ed Kennell 38,227]

2 hours ago, Racinbob said:

it did seem to have political tones

 

This is not politics Bob....... economics 101.

[squonk 41,155]

Homes have been high for a year and a half. My son started looking for a house in the fall of 2019 before covid hit. Constantly got out bid . Offered more than asking price and still lost out. He finally found a home last November. He still got out bid on it but the lady who owned it liked him because he teaches at a school affiliated with her church. So she only accepted his bid.

 

You think it's tough to do home projects? Try doing some repair work for a living. Ask @rjg854 about building materials. Suppliers cant tell you when stuff is going to be there. You're sitting around because you have no parts  and your customers are calling wanting to know the status of their equipment and you can't give them an answer. Then BOOM everything shows up at once. Now your scrambling working OT to make everybody happy. 

 

Glad I retired when I did. 

Edited May 26, 2021 by squonk

[AMC RULES 37,130]

Imagine being a young person now that has some gumption and is just starting out.

[oliver2-44 9,761]

1 hour ago, Maxwell-8 said:

 You could even say they are falling in prices as to everybody is moving to the city.

 

To some extent here people are moving away from the city.  Since their working from home they can move near the lake, or out in the hill country.   

[WHX?? 48,828]

2 hours ago, Maxwell-8 said:

our Wheel Horses are not very thirsty

You my friend must not have an Onan! 

[Racinbob 11,093]

2 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

 

This is not politics Bob....... economics 101.

Definitely but I kinda climbed up on a soapbox and I realized my ranting was more political.  I don't even like discussing politics.  

[stevasaurus 22,764]

@Ed Kennell  @Mickwhitt This statement is political..."It might be time to stop printing money and paying people not to work."

 

Just so you know, unemployment is payed for by the people who worked by their employers.  In essence, those getting unemployment are getting their money back.  It has nothing to do with the government printing money.  Do you want these people out in the streets, losing their homes, resolving to crime to feed their families.??  Sure, maybe it is time to go back to work, but my daughter is not going to get her job back.  She is going to have to shop for something that was comparable to what she was doing.  Those jobs may not be out there yet and she is not going to wait tables.  Blanket statements do not work for everybody...and areas of the country are not the same.    

 

Unemployment may not show up on a check stub, but you can bet it is involved in negotiations between a union and management.  It is part of the price to put an employee on the job.  Management does pay unemployment tax for it's employees.  

 

[stevasaurus 22,764]

@Maxwell-8  come on, you know better then that.    True or not...this is not the site for that.

[lynnmor 7,308]

17 minutes ago, stevasaurus said:

@Ed Kennell  This statement is political..."It might be time to stop printing money and paying people not to work."

 

Just so you know, unemployment is payed for by the people who worked by their employers.  In essence, those getting unemployment are getting their money back.  It has nothing to do with the government printing money.  Do you want these people out in the streets, losing their homes, resolving to crime to feed their families.??  Sure, maybe it is time to go back to work, but my daughter is not going to get her job back.  She is going to have to shop for something that was comparable to what she was doing.  Those jobs may not be out there yet and she is not going to wait tables.  Blanket statements do not work for everybody...and areas of the country are not the same.

 

 

I do appreciate your work here, but I do not agree with one word of your post.  Not getting into an argument, so I won't take it any further but I do want to go on record as being opposed to the items mentioned.

[Maxwell-8 4,277]

4 minutes ago, stevasaurus said:

@Maxwell-8  come on, you know better then that.    True or not...this is not the site for that.

Thanks, You are right.

 

 

Ps. I am glad I bought all my materials for my big chicken coop before the prices went soaring. Only I forgot to buy the plexiglass for the windows which went up the most. 

[squonk 41,155]

When my disability ran out I had to go on unemployment for a month until I was able to go back to work. I got the maximum allowed. $600 week with the enhancements or 2400 a month or $28,000 yr. Can't do much on that salary if you have rent or a mortgage tp pay. People on assistance are not living high on the hog.