FEATURE
“We’re being told by our
buyers that these high
prices will probably stick
with us through late fall
and into winter.”
– Kevin Marcin, McMunn & Yates
Building Supplies
SUSTAINABLE
BUILDING IS HERE
Who's future are you building for?
GSBP.CA
Marcin says the cost increases for lumber, especially for framing
materials, definitely made it more difficult for his contractor custom-ers
to price out projects.
“We can’t hold pricing for any more than, you know, 10 days
right now. Some of those projects, they’ll be estimating back in late-
March or April, and they don’t come into fruition until later on in
the summer. Well, then your pricing might have changed a couple of
times,” he said.
“It just means there’s got to be lots of communication back and
forth between us and the contractors to say, ‘Ok, you know what?
This is the price now, but two weeks from now, it could change again
so we’ve got to keep revisiting this quote.’”
Marcin says there’s no doubt his building supply store lost sales
because of the steep increase of lumber prices. He believes it’s led
people to cancel or hold off on projects, especially outdoor ones like
decks and fences that use treated lumber.
“It’s definitely hurt the business that way,” Marcin said, adding that
in addition to lost sales, his store’s operating costs are also higher. “We
go through a lot of material. We’re always turning over our lumber
and we’re never sitting on old inventory, so our costs are always at
market, which is tough too.
“Some of the smaller yards out there in the rural areas, they prob-ably
have some older stock and their costs aren’t as high. So it’s harder
for us because we’re turning our materials so much that we’re never
sitting on old wood.”
The demand for treated lumber at the Steinbach McMunn &
Yates Building Supplies store did start to level off a bit towards the
end of summer and into fall. Marcin says that slowed down the price
increases somewhat, but he expects the cost of treated wood and
CREATE PRINT
CONNECT
PROMOTE
JEFF BRIDGES
cell: 204-761-5753
Grow your
business
in print and online
PRINT SIGNS + DISPLAYS
MARKETING BRANDING
WEB, SOCIAL + EMAIL
PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS
DIRECT MAIL
601 Braecrest Drive | Brandon, MB | R7C 1B1
Phone 204.728.3037 | Toll-Free 1.888.756.4433 | info@leechprint.com
leechprint.com
GLENN JAGO
cell: 204-761-7741
934 D Douglas Street, Brandon, MB R7A 7B2
Phone: 204-727-7204 Fax: 204-726-4211 Email: ipandh@mymts.net
other lumber products will remain high – and most likely until early
2021, at least.
“We’re being told by our buyers that these high prices will
probably stick with us through late fall and into winter,” he said.
“They’re telling us that nothing will start to soften until probably
after the new year.”
Marcin says that’s because treating plants that supply McMunn
& Yates are still dealing with lumber shortages. He adds strong
growth in the number of housing starts in the U.S. is another factor
that’s contributing to higher prices.
Marcin’s advice to customers is to try to stay patient and perhaps
consider holding off on building projects until lumber prices and
the supply situation have settled down.
“I think it’s just a matter of the mills catching up and once
there’s not as much demand, the prices will probably come down,”
he said. n
BUILDING RURAL MANITOBA | 37
/GSBP.CA
/leechprint.com
link
link
/