FORT Fencing
Agricultural & Equine Fencing
FORT August Newsletter - 2023
14 August 2023
We shouldn’t have mentioned the weather in the last report considering July has been the wettest on record for a long time! August has not been any better so far and as we’re also right in the middle of peak school holiday time it’s no surprise to find that overall demand has slowed a little, but even so FORT continues to stay very busy.
More importantly, our Customers continue to report plenty of forward orders which is heartening. The Bank of England reviewed base rates and as expected they have been raised by 0.25% to 5.25%. This will impact the market but seems to imply that we’re getting toward the peak on rates. Existing demand is surprisingly resilient, but there must be a point at which interest rates finally squeeze expenditure to the point where demand within our sector is affected. FORT continues to invest! We announced the recent merger with Kington Aggregates and that has been very successful, but it’s not the only new venture.
We’ve just opened our amazing showroom and it’s there for you to use at any time, to bring your clients along and help them select the different products that they need for their project. It’s full of ideas and we’re seeing a lot of people coming along. So when you get the chance, get in touch with us and plan a visit to the FORT showroom, as mentioned before - Tea & Coffee on us! That rain we’ve been coping with is also causing the usual problems on exposed roof sheathing, we’ve written a separate note on this, but the basic message is “don’t leave roof decking unprotected!”.
Availability remains very good across the board; inevitably there’ll always be a few items that pop up, but in general terms we’re in great shape. Inflation finally seems to be falling back, but is still a major factor that will continue to cause problems into the future.
Some more positive news for August is that Ethan, currently one of our van drivers, has just passed his Class 2 HGV test. We’re excited to see him driving the big rigs and make sure to give him a big pat on the shoulder on your next delivery!
General Availability & Price Update
Our roundup of key indicators is shown below:
Inflation - The £ remains at a high point since April 2022. Against the Euro, things have held steady. What is interesting is the £ v Skr (Sweden). Large volumes of timber comes from Sweden and their currency has weakened, a lot, making their products much cheaper and thereby putting pressure generally on many timber items.
Containers - Having dropped from incredibly high rates, the price finally appears to have begun to rise from what were unviable levels. Even so, compared to historical levels, these rates have eased the cost of imports, especially heavier items (sandstone and plywood for example).
Steel Bar - A brief spike in price caused by the terrible earthquakes in and around Turkey has fallen back and overall prices have levelled off at quite a low point. Very slight drop in price again since July.
Timber - While this is a US index, it shows the trend. Timber has returned to somewhere close to 2020 (pre-pandemic) levels and is currently below those levels. There’s an underlying need for rates to rise, but at the moment lack of demand is holding that back. In Europe, operational costs and the shortage of logs (due to sanctions on Russian and Belarus) are starting to kick in and we anticipate small increases as the year progresses.
Inflation - Inflation remains stubbornly high, but finally we’re seeing what looks like a further drop to around 10.5%. This has taken a lot longer than anticipated, but energy costs have fallen and increased interest rates have taken money out of the system, so it looks as if the UK will see far lower levels of inflation during 2023.
Plywood & OSB Protection
With the recent spurs of wet weather in what should be our warmest months, we’d like to remind our customers of the importance of protecting both Plywood & OSB before installation.
OSB: Similar to plywood, OSB is fabricated by building up layers and is more prone to problems when moisture makes its way through the edges, causing significant swelling.
Plywood: If the face gets saturated then the top veneer will begin to swell, while the veneers underneath remain protected. This increases the risk of peeling, bubbling & delamination as the veneer is under stress. All edges should also be protected/sealed to reduce any chance of swelling.
You must ensure that when left in the open (roofs, mansards, gables etc) plywood and OSB is protected from the elements.
Ultimately, these products are not designed to withstand these forces and the plywood & OSB industry will never accept any claim caused through this action. Please get in touch with our sales team for further information on 01488 505 800.
As always, please do not assume stock availability - check with the sales office!
Our reputation relies on word of mouth and testimonials from our valued customers, and as such we'd love for you to share your experiences with us on either Google, Facebook Or TrustPilot if you have the time.
Thank you very much for your ongoing support of FORT!
Best regards,
Matt, Tim & Keith
The Directors