2022.FORT. January Newsletter

General Availability & Price Update

As we’ve shown in previous newsletters, the FORT site has also undergone transformational change and we’re now able to handle far higher volumes efficiently. Our stock levels are much higher and this all helps us to improve availability.

FORT have excellent stock levels across our profile, but there are supply chain issues. In general terms we’re not finding that sourcing is anywhere near as difficult as it was earlier in 2021, but there are still many ‘hot spots’:

‘Aircrete’ & Solid Concrete Blocks – thermal is still very tricky. Some of this is down to haulage

Block & Beam Systems – still on extended lead times

Steel Cavity Lintels – normally easy to source, they are currently on 4-6 week availability

Bricks & Roof Tiles – mainstream manufacturers are generally reporting very long lead times. FORT are resolving this by offering a wide range of alternatives.

Each month we give you a range of indexes that help to build a clearer picture of where we seem to be heading:

Inflation - As the chart shows, in historical terms current inflation is not especially high, but when compared to the last 30 years it’s at the top end and looking to continue to be high.
Containers - The price has settled at around 3 times the price of a year ago and it seems to have stabilised, please see the following link. This might well start to fall over the coming months.
Steel - This index is showing a stabilisation at around $700. Pre-COVID, prices were around $400 and there was a spike of $850 back in May. Once again, steel looks to have found a settled rate.

Timber - At the moment UK stocks are high. Importers have overbought and prices have fallen, but as this chart shows, it looks as if this is a short-lived moment. All the indicators seem to show that demand will mop up these excesses; importers will trim their volumes and prices are therefore likely to rise. This has now continued for 2 months.

MDF and TG4 Chipboard are still a bit tricky but generally we’re in excellent shape on stocks.

January is typically a time of general price reviews by those manufacturing the materials, and we've seen some increases in building chemicals, metalwork, plasterboard and concrete blocks, but in other areas we've been able to limit and absorb some price increases, and we've finally started to see some prices coming down, with rigid insulation board, OSB, softwood timber mouldings, CLS, treated timber carcassing and most landscaping timber prices being cut.

Our general advice remains the same as it has for many months now:

TRY NOT TO PRICE AHEAD ON BUILDING MATERIALS AND DO NOT ASSUME ALL PRODUCTS ARE IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE!

Red Diesel - This is going to be a major change across our entire industry. We all use significant amounts of diesel and from 1^st April 2022 our sector cannot use ‘Red’ – we must all use conventional ‘White’ diesel, that has a nett extra duty of £0.47 per litre (that’s £2.09/gallon!).

The government argument is that this is all about reducing hydrocarbon use, but the incidental issue is that the government expects to get around £1.4 billion in extra duty. Further details can be found here

There will be a lot of concern around fuel security and theft. We also all need to have cleaned out existing machinery and filters before 1^st April.

Tile Service

With supply chains remaining difficult in various product areas, FORT has invested in additional storage space specifically so that FORT can provide an even better service, improving availability for our customers.

FORT will expand its range of roof tiles to include Heritage (Hand Crafted) and Imery (Machine Made), and through our knowledge and experience in the local brick and tile market we have chosen colours and textures that suit the local geographical area - sample boards available on request. In addition, FORT stock the associated fittings.

This all adds to our existing stock ranges of associated products including Spanish slates, roof battens, milled lead, felts and membranes, chimney pots - this is just the start of our extensive list! If you are after more bespoke tiles, FORT can source any items that sit outside our standard stock lines, and of course we continue to offer our next day brick and tile matching site visit service.