Look no further than your local building supply store and you will see what has happened with the cost of construction supplies. In the past year, everything from insulation, electrical, plumbing, drywall, wood, and steel had whopping price increases. Some lumber prices have more than doubled, stimulated by strong residential construction, low interest rates and COVID induced mill capacity limits. Hot rolled steel prices are at a 13 year high driven by supply shortages and an increase in steel demand. As COVID-19 vaccines roll out globally, economic optimism and corresponding investment has taken off. Metal building manufacturers are reporting deliveries extended out to the 15-20 week range and open web steel Joist fabricators are booked out to the fall! A strong US housing market is also affecting fiberglass supply – as fiberglass manufactures shift production to residential batt and blown-in insulation, metal building insulation laminators are experiencing fiberglass supply shortages.

Happy New Year! I am sure many of us are relieved to see the end of 2020. The past year has been plagued by a pandemic with just under 2 million lives lost around the globe, social isolation, global trade disruptions, record fiscal and monetary stimulus programs, historic unemployment, economic collapse, and a tumultuous US election. Could it have been much worse? It is easy to get lost in the dismay; however, out of the doom and gloom, there is opportunity and hope. Never in history has the world united to tackle something so devastating that could threaten our very existence. To be able to research, develop, and distribute a vaccine in under one year is truly remarkable – a testament to what can be accomplished with global cooperation.