Southern builders will cope with lack of timber supplies

Friday, 2 April 2021

Southland Master Builders Association president and Jennian Homes Southland Ltd franchise owner Carl Hamilton said timber shortages would not have too much impact on the region’s building industry.

Carter Holt Harvey’s decision not to supply timber to some merchants would have some impact on Southland’s building trade, but there were other places where timber could be obtained, an industry leader says.

In March, Carter Holt Harvey announced it had stopped supplying to Mitre 10 and ITM, while continuing to supply large customers including Fletcher Building-owned PlaceMakers and its own subsidiary, Carters.

Southland Master Builders president Carl Hamilton said the decision would have “a bit of an impact'’ on the trade in the province.

“There are other companies and other sawmills. It will have an impact, but it won’t be huge I don’t think,’’ he said.

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Most builders ordered timber well in advance, so if they were unable to have their orders filled they could source materials from elsewhere, he said.

“I think the big thing at the moment is for builders have a good relationship with their building company representatives.'’

Supply issues experienced during and after the Covid-19 lock down were not as bad now, but it was still important to order in advance, he said.

The building industry in Southland was still ‘’nuts’’ and most builders were booked up for the rest of the year.

“There are work-arounds, and builders can make things work to get projects done,’’ he said.

“The Government probably needs to do something. Closing down timber mills up north isn’t good for the industry and it's not helping anyone really.’’

In a statement, CHH chief executive Prafull Kesha says New Zealand is facing unprecedented demand for construction materials across the board.

“Without doubt the building industry is going through a boom. There have been some short-term supply issues. CHH has recently gone through a substantial capital investment programme. The initial stage of this was completed in the first quarter last year. This will result in a 40 per cent lift in supply of structural timber compared to 2019.”

Kesha said almost all demand was being met, there was no issue related to log supply and the company was not exporting structural timber.

The Commerce Commission said it would look into Carter Holt Harvey’s decision to halt timber supply, while the New Zealand Forest and Wood Sector Forum said New Zealand’s domestic timber supply is strong, and the wood supply chain is not at risk.

Mitre 10 chief of customer solutions Chris Peak confirmed the company had received advice from CHH Woodproducts that it could not supply it with structural timber for the foreseeable future.

“This poses an industry-wide issue. As a New Zealand co-operative, we have multiple and long-standing supplier and partner relationships and will be working hard to ensure we can continue to supply our customers with their structural timber needs.’’

ITM Cooperative chief executive Darrin Hughes said in a statement that the company sources from most independent timber mills throughout the country.

“Last week’s notification has created an obvious spike of demand in an industry that is already struggling to keep up,'’ Hughes said.

“Whilst this supply shortage will impact some stores in the ITM network in the near term, as a cooperative operating for 30 years we have long-standing relationships with most other timber manufacturers throughout New Zealand, and we will continue to supply our builder customers with their ongoing framing timber requirements. However, there may be some delays as we seek to rebalance our supply of timber across our store network.’’

Hughes said ITM had not been contacted by the Commerce Commission but it was '’supportive of the enquiries and welcomed a discussion.'’

In Southland, ITM operates branches in Invercargill, Winton and Gore, and Mitre 10 has branches in Invercargill, Te Anau, Gore, and Winton, although not all supply trade customers.