Unable to source Gib here, frustrated builders import plasterboard from China

Thursday, 26 May 2022

Trusus said its plasterboard has NZ 2588:2018 certification.

Kiwi builders have been forced to look offshore to source desperately needed plasterboard as local retailers have run out of stock amid the national construction materials shortage.

A sales spokesperson for Trusus, a Beijing-based firm, claimed it had seen a significant increase in interest from buyers in New Zealand after builders were unable to source Gib board locally.

The Chinese company is able to export standard 1200mm x 2400mm plasterboard for about $21 per sheet, including manufacturing, shipping and taxes.

Because New Zealand has a free trade agreement with China, there are no duty costs imposed on importing plasterboard from there.

Fletcher Building was chosen by Morningstar as a top pick.

* Shortage sees builders buy Gib board for six times retail price on Trade Me

* House building boom could soon hit ceiling due to shortages of materials and workers

Fletcher Building did not say why PlaceMakers had taken plasterboard products off its website.

Trusus’ spokesperson said its plasterboard had been verified to meet New Zealand building code standards and provided a test certificate from Swiss verification firm SGS.

However, the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment and Auckland Council were unable to verify the authenticity of the certificate.

An Auckland Council spokesperson said the best way for a builder to ensure imported plasterboard could be approved for use was to provide evidence of compliance with the building code. This could be in the form of an appraisal from a New Zealand testing body or testing results from an accredited test facility.

They said due to the material shortage, it had seen an increase in “product substitutions”, including replacement for Gib board.

When there’s enough of it to go around, plasterboard is not something most people think too much about.

“A lot of plaster board substitution requests are assessed as ‘minor variations’ by building inspectors, however we have had instances where substituted products were non-compliant with Building Code requirements which resulted in costly deconstruction and time delays,” the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, New Zealand builders have been paying about six times the retail price for Gib plasterboard on Trade Me because they are unable to find it in store.

Gib plasterboard, which is manufactured by Fletcher subsidiary Winstone Wallboards, was retailing for about $30 before trade discounts, prior to the shortage.

However, Fletcher Building subsidiary Placemakers appears to have removed its online listings for Gib board altogether. Fletcher Building and PlaceMakers did not respond to requests for comment.

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However, a Fletcher spokesperson said it welcomed new competition in the form of offshore exporters.

“We believe in a free market and support any initiatives to supply plasterboard to the industry to meet the high levels of demand New Zealand is currently experiencing.”

They said Winstone Wallboards had begun an “allocation model”, assigning retailers an amount of plasterboard each month. It was taking orders for July, while orders for August would open next month.

Fletcher Building had previously said it would significantly increase production of Gib board once it opened a new $400 million factory in the Bay of Plenty in June next year.

Stuff understands Fletcher Building intends to close its Auckland factory in Onehunga.

A spokesperson said: “Our current Auckland site will remain open for a period of time after the new plant opens to continue building up stock levels.”

In the meantime, Fletcher Building has asked builders only to make orders for plasterboard once their building site is ready for installation and not to double up orders.

Meanwhile, Bunnings Warehouse has been selling the product of New Zealand-owned Gib competitor Elephant Plasterboard.

Elephant Plasterboard managing director Kevin van Hest said while there has been a lot of talk in the industry about “not going back to keeping all the eggs in one basket”, he believed the softening of Gib’s market dominance would be short-lived.

“We have been in business for 34 excruciating years and we are still fighting with councils to get our plasterboard signed off.

“They are happy to switch between different brands of insulation batts, but they think if you switch between plasterboards the world will end.”

He did not believe firms in China would be price competitive with local manufacturers in the long term because of the cost of shipping. “At the moment, people are willing to pay anything,” he said.

Van Hest was waiting to see the outcome of the Commerce Commission’s investigation into residential building supplies, but he remained pessimistic.

“If you thought the supermarket industry duopoly of 50% and 30% market share was bad, in plasterboard Fletchers have a 95% share, and we have 4%.”