It’s pretty much confirmed that customers will see another price increase in January for drywall in North America. To be more approximate, the figure that’s been bounced around is 35 percent.
The lingering bad economic state is to blame, manufacturers say. With lower demand than five years ago, production and transport costs are taking a toll on the manufacturers. Builders and remodeling contractors should prepare themselves for the challenge, as with the poor housing market, it’s hard to increase a price several thousand dollars to the home owner when they have many other options available.
“We’re changing the nature of the game here,” said Craig Weisbruch, National Gypsum’s senior vice president of sales and marketing. “I don’t know if it will work or not but we’re all losing money, and the amount of product we’re shipping is so little we just can’t cover our costs.”
As contractors, how will you deal with this price increase? How will this impact the way you bid projects? Will your company implement more attention to waste and recycling efforts?
