Dear Friends:
As I compose this letter at the end of July I continue to be
concerned that we may be headed for a double dip recession. I hate to sound
negative as anyone who knows me knows that I am an incurable optimist but I try
to be as realistic as I can with my monthly letter. Below are some of the
reasons for my concerns:
- Construction unemployment continues to hover around 20% versus
unemployment averaging about 10% in the overall economy. Construction
unemployment hasn’t gotten appreciably better this entire year.
- The stock market has been erratic. One week it’s up and the next
week it gives back all of its gains. To me, that reflects a lack of investor
confidence in the economy.
- Consumer confidence continues to be low. Until consumers begin to
spend again we are not going to see a true recovery.
- Employers are not adding back hardly any of the people they laid
off over the last few years. This indicates to me that a lot of CEOs feel like
I do about the economy.
I don’t have much hope for a true recovery until at least
the midterm elections in November. I hope that the politicians in Washington
get a wake-up call when a lot of them don’t get reelected because, instead of
focusing on jobs, jobs, and jobs they have been engaging in partisan politics.
I don’t blame any one party for this. Both parties are guilty. At least that’s
my opinion.
On that happy note, if you want to get an in-depth overview
of how we see commodity prices changing over the next month, please see below.
Prices for some commodities have stabilized and some
decreased moderately in June and early July. Weakened demand for scrap steel
and some metal alloys, along with concerns about the global economic recovery,
has caused prices to decline over the past several weeks for these items. The
lower prices for these commodities, coupled with less than expected demand in
the construction sector, has caused manufacturers of some construction
materials made from these items to either reduce their prices or announce they
will reduce prices in the coming weeks. There continues to be a shortage of
some polymers and resins, which has caused prices for these raw materials used
in construction products to rise over the past few months and some products
(believe it or not) are on allocation. Because of their increased costs for
these raw materials, many manufacturers of construction materials that use
these resins and polymers in their finished products announced price increases
in July.
The decline in the cost for scrap steel, coupled with
less than expected demand in June and early July, resulted in Gerdau
Ameristeel, Nucor, and other domestic rebar manufacturers reducing their
prices by $20.00/ton ($1.00/CWT) in mid-July. Brokers and distributors had
already factored in this decrease beginning in early July and most had already
reduced their asking prices in an attempt to sell off as much inventory as
possible before the price decrease announcement, so prices for rebar to the
contractor should remain at or about the same moving into August. At this time
no further price changes are anticipated for August rollings. Many
manufacturers of construction chemicals and repair products either
announced price increases effective August 1st, or have indicated they will
increase prices sometime in August, due to increased costs for raw materials
over the past several months. Expect prices for items such as concrete curing
& sealing compounds, penetrating sealers, concrete densifiers, form release
agents, coatings, epoxy joint fillers, and concrete bonding agents (both epoxy
based and latex based) to increase from 5 to 10% in August. Be sure to factor
this in when preparing your bids.
Domestic demand for concrete reinforcing wire
mesh was less than the industry anticipated in June and early July, and
with wire rod prices expected to decline moderately for August shipments, most
manufacturers of reinforcing mesh either reduced their asking prices by
approximately 3% in mid-July or have indicated they will do so by August 1st.
As with rebar, no further changes for wire mesh prices are expected in August.
As noted in last month’s newsletter, polyethylene C
& A film prices remained unchanged in July. Although demand remains
relatively weak, prices for polyethylene film are expected to increase in
August, due to a shortage of resins and resin prices rising as a result. Most
polyethylene manufacturers indicate they will increase prices by approximately
8% in early August. Also, as resins have been in short supply, polyethylene
film manufacturers have reduced their finished goods inventories and most are
manufacturing products on a made to order basis; therefore lead times have been
extended dramatically. Historically, normal lead times for truckload orders
have been 3 to 7 working days. Now the lead time for truckload orders for most
manufacturers is 14 to 21 days. If you have requirements for polyethylene
sheeting you should order as soon as possible in order to ensure delivery when
you need the material.
Masonry reinforcing and tie prices are expected
to remain unchanged in August, and as wire rod prices have stabilized,
manufacturers indicate that prices should remain steady for the foreseeable
future.
Raw copper prices fell moderately in late June, but
rebounded in early July and most analysts do not expect prices to change in the
coming weeks. Because raw copper prices have remained virtually unchanged for
the past two months and as prices are expected to remain stable, copper
thru-wall flashing manufacturers have indicated prices will hold steady in
July and through August.
Due to the current resin shortage and the resulting
higher prices, most manufacturers of PVC, plastic, and foam products
used in the construction industry have announced price increases for August.
Prices for items such as PVC waterstops, PVC flashings, foam expansion joint
fillers, and plastic expansion joint cap, are expected to increase by
approximately 8% in August. If you have upcoming projects that require these
types of products, you should consider buying out these items as soon as
possible in order to avoid the price increase.
Below is some great info from the AGC:
Click here for tables of producer price indexes for construction in June 2010.
Click here for Ken Simonson’s latest PowerPoint presentation on construction
activity, materials and labor.
Click here for construction employment tables for May.
This month we are featuring the following suppliers:
-
ABT PolyDrain is one of the most recognized names in
trench drains, and ABT®, Inc., is a world leader in surface drainage solutions.
ABT products are all available at your nearest New South branch. Let us quote
you on your next job calling for trench or surface drains.
- Access Tile is a product
manufactured by a related company of Engineered Plastics, Inc. a
long time supplier of ours that many of you know well. The ADA requires
the use of tactile warning devices at all new or redone intersections and
at the curb level of many retail stores and public facilities. Access Tile
is a sister product to industry-leading Armor Tile and is
engineered to compete with lower priced products without sacrificing
quality. The next time you need a tactile warning system, please let us
give you a price.
-
BASF is the world’s largest chemical company, and as
befits a company of their stature, they have announced a new product, ZERO-C
that helps concrete resist cracking. The industry has been looking for
something like this for years so please scroll down to learn more about this
revolutionary new product.
This month’s management article is entitled, “Avoid These
Common email Pet Peeves”. As e-mail is now widely used in our industry I
thought these tips were timely and helpful. I hope you agree.
In closing, I would like nothing more than to be wrong about
the statements I made at the beginning of this letter, but my gut is telling me
I’m not. A lot of you are telling me the same thing so I don’t feel like I’m a
lone voice in the wilderness.
Until things get better, hang in there and never hesitate to
let us know how we can do a better job for your company.
Best regards,
Jim
Jim Sobeck
President
803-451-7035
jim.sobeck@newsouthsupply.com
Avoid these common e-mail pet peeves
By Jean Kelley
Spam...e-mail chain letters...obnoxious or
off-color jokes...these are just a few things that annoy business professionals
when it comes to daily e-mail. While you're likely not sending any of these
things, what if your e-mails to people are just as annoying?
Unfortunately, many people are unknowingly
irritating co-workers and clients with bad e-mail etiquette and habits. Even
worse, the offenders are tarnishing their reputations in the process, unaware
that their e-mails reflect their personal and company brand, their image, and
their credibility.
If you've ever wondered why people don't take
action on your e-mails or why this productivity tool seems to waste more of
your time than it saves, you may be guilty of exhibiting a few e-mail pet
peeves. Following are the top five e-mail pet peeves in the workplace. Avoid
them so your e-mail messages are most effective.
1. Having sensitive conversations via e-mail
Sensitive and emotionally charged conversations have no place in an e-mail. If
you need to fire someone, express disappointment, or apologize, do it
face-to-face (most preferred) or via phone. When a topic has emotion behind it,
the recipient naturally escalates that emotion when reading the e-mail. Why?
Because it's virtually impossible to display emotion in an e-mail (aside from
some carefully placed emoticons, which not everyone appreciates), and humans by
nature look for the worst in a message rather than the best. So your innocent
question of "Why did you call Mr. Smith?" gets read as an accusatory
question, as if you had asked, "Why on earth did you of all people call
Mr. Smith and bother him?"
Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that many
people write things in an e-mail that they would never say in person. They view
e-mail as a way to have "safe" conflict without being face-to-face.
So they may snap back at someone in a sarcastic way or slam someone professionally
or personally. Some people even enjoy this type of conflict, as it gives them a
charge. The bottom line is that if your message has any type of intense emotion
behind it, don't send the e-mail. The matter is best addressed in a
face-to-face meeting or phone call.
2. Using "reply all" versus
"reply"
Just because you were one of many recipients on a message does not mean
everyone needs to hear your reply. For example, a supervisor may send a group
message out to the entire department asking who will be present at the
quarterly meeting. The only person who needs to see your response is the person
who initiated the message, not the entire group. If the group contains 100
people and each one does a "reply all" saying, "I'll be
there," you'll have a very cluttered inbox and 100 annoyed people.
Therefore, really think about who needs to see
the message before you reply. Obviously, if your company requires that you do a
"reply all" for business e-mails, then by all means do so. Otherwise,
use the "reply all" button judiciously. And remember that with a
"reply all," everyone, even someone who was in the BCC line, will see
your comments. So you never really know who is getting your message.
3. Using poor grammar and spelling
A typo every now and then is not a big deal. However, consistent bad grammar
and spelling is obnoxious. E-mail is a form of written communication, so
respect the written word. Additionally, this is business, and everything you
do, say, and write is a reflection of your professionalism.
When people read your messages, they naturally
and automatically make a judgment about you based on your writing. If your
writing is poor, everything else about you is in question. After all, if you
don't care enough about your writing, what else don't you care about? Your
product? Your service? The reader? Remember that the written word stays out
there forever, and no e-mail message is ever really deleted permanently. Make
sure your lasting impressions are good ones – even when you e-mail.
4. E-mailing complicated information
If you have to give someone technical, detailed, or complicated information, do
it with a phone call and an e-mail as a backup rather than relying solely on
the e-mail communication. E-mail is best suited for short messages that don't
require a lengthy response. If your e-mail is more than a couple of paragraphs,
pick up the phone and talk to the recipient. Use the follow up e-mail to send
needed documentation or a recap of your verbal instructions, but don't expect
people to read and act upon a lengthy or complicated message.
Additionally, if you are the recipient of a
detailed message and need time to work on the reply, send back a short
acknowledgment message that states, "I received your message and am
working on the needed items." And if the reply requires real discussion,
then pick up the phone and talk about it. Don't rely on e-mail for every topic.
5. Writing bad subject lines or not using
subject lines
Unless you're doing e-mail marketing and relying on your messages to sell
people, use straightforward subject lines that reflect the true theme of the
message. Leave the cute and clever wording to the marketers. For day-to-day
business purposes, plain and direct work best. So rather than have a subject
line that reads, "Want to pick your brain," write, "Need your
input on the Jones project."
Realize, too, that many people use their e-mail
as a filing system, and they rely on the subject lines to find key information
later. So if all your subject lines are vague (as in "A message from Tom
Smith" or "Info you requested"), or if you don't use subject
lines, people won't know what the message was about when they search their
files later. So always write detailed subject lines, as in "Dates for
Singapore conference" or "Files for Smith project." And should
the e-mail's subject change as the conversation ensues, then change the subject
line to reflect the new theme.
Get Your Message Across
E-mail has certainly come a long way in the past couple decades. What was
initially viewed as a novel way to share key information in the 1990s is now
the preferred method of business communication. But remember, just because
something is commonplace and expected doesn't mean you can become lazy with it.
Always use e-mail properly and for the purposes and subjects it was intended.
By doing so, not only will you avoid these pet peeves, but you'll also gain
productivity rewards as you enhance your professional reputation.
