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Dear Friends,
As I stated in the email we sent out on November 28, my family and I have decided to sell New South to Colony Hardware, based in Orange, CT. We weren’t for sale but they approached me and ended up making an offer we couldn’t refuse. We had long planned on converting to an employee-owned company; however, our dramatic growth over the last few years made financing the buyout impossible. What also swayed us is Colony’s plan to keep and even expand the New South brand across the south. They are retaining ALL of our associates and locations. All your contacts here will remain the same. It will be business as usual.
The only change – that benefits you, the customer — is you will now have access to the full line of products sold by Colony such as tools, hardware, and safety equipment. Thus, we will be even more of a full line supplier to you.
To learn more about Colony, please visit colonyhardware.com.
We expect the closing to be in mid to late January. As I stated in the November 28 announcement, I won’t be a Colony employee but will assist them in mergers and acquisitions, and I look forward to staying in touch, as I also look forward to updating my book, taking part in more speaking engagements, and continuing to have my monthly column in the Upstate Business Journal in Greenville, SC.
Now, back to current business. November and December so far have proven to be an incredible month despite rain, elections and other events happening around the south.
See below for the latest updates on pricing for the main products we distribute, and message us with any questions.
As the winter season begins, many of the commodity-based construction products are expected to remain soft to close out the year. Lower demand levels across the country coupled with an influx of imported goods are keeping price increases to a minimum for most commodity items.
Rebar has been one of the commodities most affected by the influx of international import material. As international demand has softened dramatically, more ships of imported rebar are hitting US coasts. The impact has been greatest in Texas, California, Florida, and the Northeast. Availability of sitting inventory in these regions has had two major impacts. Pricing in these regions has dropped dramatically due to import competition as well as creating an excess of availability at domestic mills. Both importers and domestic mills are aggressively trying to move sitting inventory before the end of the year. The need to move material quickly has bled into surrounding regions. While import material into the Carolinas and Georgia has not always been feasible due to transportation costs, desire to move the excess inventory has created an environment where import is now a heavy consideration.
Scrap metal pricing posted up $20 over November’s number to settle at $385 per ton, which finally ended an eight-month trend of downward pricing. There is some hope that this slight increase will create a short-term floor for most metal commodities. The metal commodity that needs stabilization the most is wire mesh reinforcing. Wire mesh has seen the sharpest decline over the past few months and pricing is substantially less than where it was this time a year ago. Mills are reporting high inventory availability with quick shipping schedules. Currently, most loads of common sizing and gauge can ship and deliver in roughly a week’s time. As a result, many distributors are able to shrink sitting inventory levels while countering with more frequent, smaller volume purchase orders.
The lumber market continues to bob along the bottom. Overall consumption has slowed significantly and resulted in growing inventories at the mills. With transportation being available, most sizes and species are able to deliver prompt to two weeks or sooner. With mill production having the ability to quickly outpace current demand, the mills may look to take extended downtimes for the holiday and yearend maintenance to try and correct the current supply vs. demand equation. Suggestions are to remain patient with lumber pricing and keep limited inventories where able. The market trend should become much clearer after the holidays.
Polyethylene sheeting is also seeing a slight downward trend. December marks the third month in a row of decreasing prices on finished goods. Resin pricing continues to decline from the all-time high numbers seen in July of this year. Mill availability is high and production time remains quick. Most orders are shipped less than two weeks from the time of purchase order receipt.
Contractors’ input costs were mixed again in November, as decreases in fuel, lumber, steel, and aluminum costs outweighed increased prices for copper, glass, and trucking, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data posted on December 9. The producer price index (PPI) for material and service inputs to new nonresidential construction declined 0.4% for the month. The index rose 10.1% year-over-year (y/y)—markedly more than the 7.1% increase in the consumer price index, the most widely watched measure of inflation. The PPI for inputs to new residential construction slipped 0.2% for the month but increased 9.2% y/y. There were notable one-month declines in PPIs for diesel fuel (-3.4%, but up 60% y/y), lumber and plywood (-3.1% for the month and -5.8% y/y), steel mill products (-3.0% and -27%, respectively), and aluminum mill shapes (-1.9% and -13%). The PPI increased by more than 1% from October for copper and brass mill shapes (5.4% but down 7.8% y/y), flat glass (1.5% for the month and 12% y/y), and truck transportation of freight (1.1% and 11%, respectively). Other items that contributed to the double-digit y/y increase in input costs include architectural coatings (unchanged for the month but up 26% y/y), paving mixtures and blocks (-0.9% and 20%), gypsum building materials (0.4% and 18%), concrete products (0.8% and 14%), insulation materials (-0.2% and 14%), asphalt felts and coatings (0.6% and 12%), and plastic construction products (-0.5% and 11%). In addition, indexes rose at double-digit rates for new, repair, and maintenance work by subcontractors: roofing contractors (0 and 21%), plumbing (0.3% and 15%), electrical (0.1% and 14%), and concrete contractors (0.3% and 11%). The PPI for new nonresidential building construction—a measure of the price that contractors say they would bid to build a fixed set of buildings—rose 0.2% for the month and 19.8% y/y. AGC posted tables of construction PPIs.
Click here for the latest update on the construction economy from Ken Simonson, the chief economist of the AGC.
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CATCHING UP WITH OUR CUSTOMERS
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This month, we are catching up with the team over at Beech Contractors LLC, based out of Charleston, South Carolina to discuss the projects they are working on using Owens Corning GFRP rebar. Beech Contractors is a turnkey commercial concrete contractor that was established in South Carolina by Josh Beech in 2016. They are currently working on the Low Battery Seawall and the Ryder hotel. To learn more about these projects, click here.
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Owens Corning
Premier supplier of insulation, roofing, and fiberglass composites
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Access Tile
The ultimate solution in detectable warning systems
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SpecChem
Makers of Chemicals and Aggregates for the Concrete Industry
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Louis Denny, Sales Manager, and Jacksonville, FL
Our Associate Spotlight this month is of Louis Denny, Sales Manager in our Jacksonville, FL branch. Louis grew up in Jacksonville where he graduated from Providence High School. He previously was co-owner of Increte of North Florida until we acquired them in November, 2021. Louis worked as Inside Sales Manager for the last seven years until he was promoted to Outside Sales in Q3 of this year. He got married to his wife, Noelle last year, and they have two dogs. In his spare time, he enjoys golf, sporting clays, hunting, bowling, fishing and football. We are very glad to have someone with Louis’ knowledge and experience on our Jacksonville team.
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NINE MOST COMMON HIRING MISTAKES
Our leadership article this month is my column in the Upstate Business Journal this month on what I deem to be the nine most common hiring mistakes. To read the article, click here.
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In closing, I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays. It’s been another great year and I’m sure we are all looking forward to kicking back a bit over the holidays.
I also want to thank all our customers and suppliers for their support and business over the last 21 years. While there was a lot of work over the years, I’ve also had a lot of fun with associates, customers and suppliers at events we hosted and industry events. I look forward to continuing these relationships in the years to come.
With my deepest appreciation,
Jim Sobeck
President & CEO 864-263-4377 (Direct Line)
jim.sobeck@newsouthsupply.com
Main Office/Branch: Greenville, SC
Other Branches in:
Columbia | Charleston | Myrtle Beach | Hilton Head | Greensboro | Raleigh | Charlotte | Atlanta | Jacksonville
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| Author of The Real Business 101: Lessons From the Trenches. To get your copy see below:
For Smashwords (eBook version for Kindle, iPad, Nook) click here
For direct link to Amazon site (Kindle and print version) click here |
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