The Australian construction industry is facing its worst materials shortage in more than 40 years.
According to the QBCC these shortages are due to market forces amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. They are impacting everyone in the supply chain, from suppliers and builders to subcontractors, employees, and consumers.
At Siniat we have also witnessed the effect of the current market conditions, with the demand for plasterboard products being unprecedented since October 2021.
According to Gavin Burton, Managing Director of Etex Australia (Siniat), the key issue is that the demand is currently exceeding the supply capacity.
“The detached housing sector took off last year and commercial projects that were impacted by the pandemic are ramping up. The combination of record-low interest rates and the federal government’s HomeBuilder stimulus definitely led to a very strong pipeline of new housing which has increased demand for building materials,” he said.
Mr Burton said delays have been compounded with labour shortages across industries due to the Omicron outbreak.
The effect of overseas shipping delays is adding another layer to the problem. “At Siniat we have seen that some of our raw materials that come from overseas have taken longer to get here. Fortunately we haven’t run out of materials for any extended time, but things have been tight,” he added.
Mr Burton is hopeful that the situation will improve over the next couple of months.
“At Siniat we have increased output by increasing shifts at our plasterboard manufacturing plants. We are also allowing for longer delivery times and holding larger stocks of imported materials,” he said.
“I can understand that there is a lot of frustration in the industry at the moment, but we are doing everything we can to meet the demand and help our customers.”
