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Valued Customer and Friends of New South,
Happy April! Spring is in the air and we are excited that construction season is in full swing, especially after dealing with significantly more weather issues across the country this year compared to last.
I’m excited to write and author the first newsletter since Colony and New South Construction Supply came together! Our intent is to continue to provide the best possible customer service that you’ve been accustomed to, and cement our position as the preferred distributor, and employer, in the eastern US. As you know, your same trusted New South Construction Supply sales and operations teams will continue to serve you to the high standards you expect, and our mission is to improve the product selection and service to which you’ve grown accustomed.
 A little bit about Colony Hardware (www.colonyhardware.com) – we stock over 30,000 items, providing supplies and materials to contractors working on almost all phases of construction projects. The excitement is building as we begin to stock items in New South branches, the first of which were MAX USA Rebar Tying Tools (pictured). More high demand products & categories such as power tools, ladders, gang boxes & safety will move in during April for availability in May. We expect to have our full portfolio of products readily available over the next few months.
From a market perspective, we continue to see strong demand across the footprint, with commercial construction projects accelerating despite today’s tight labor market. Our goal is to save you money by keeping your labor force productive and by introducing them to new, cutting-edge, labor saving products.
Lastly, thanks for your trust and support throughout this integration process. If there is anything I can do for you, or should you simply wish to get in touch, please contact me via tim.rash@colonyhardware.com or at 865.275.6535. I look forward to building deep relationships with each of you in the coming months.
Tim Rash
Pricing Update from Peter Bemisdefer, New South’s Director of Purchasing:
As the warmer spring weather approaches, the construction industry is yet again gearing up for another busy season. The recent uptick in pricing on some industry standard commodity goods has the attention of many manufactures, buyers, and end users. Overall demand remains the biggest question, but order frequency and volume are beginning to pick up.
Rebar saw its first increase in months with all three major mills in the Southeast announcing a $50.00 ($2.50/CWT) per ton increase on March 3rd. This jump was higher than expected from most, but with high demand for domestic scrap and low available inventories an increase of some form was a surprise. This rebar increase was solidified with scrap posting up another $65 per ton on March 10th. With a new floor established and the potential for yet another scrap increase, the market may see another increase on rebar towards the end of March or beginning of April.
Wire mesh also saw its first increase in some time. With mesh so tightly tied to the scrap metal market, it was only a matter of time before the mills could no longer absorb the rising scrap prices. Some mills in the Southeast released an immediate price increase notice of $100 per ton increase, while a couple other mills pushed their increase off until April 1st. This increase finally ended the dramatic fall in wire pricing seen over the past 6 months.
Following last month’s trend, polyethylene sheeting continues to have increased demand. The code changes specifically in South Carolina are having a major impact on order volume and quantity of inbound purchase orders. Distributors are rushing to flip their historically heavy inventory of 6mil over to the newly required 10mil. Mill capacity relative to the inbound orders has stretched lead times out. This is all relative based on a specific mill’s production capacity, but the current lead times from mill to mill are distinctly different. Lead times have been reported anywhere from 1 or two weeks all the way out to eight-week lead times depending on what mill is asked.
The SYP and SPF lumber market appears to be seeing some improvement. Over the past few weeks both SYP and SPF have seen prices increase slightly. While demand is not outpacing the market’s overall availability, it is maintaining a pace in which inventory is unable to pile up at the mills. Lead times are holding steady at one to two weeks depending on species and dimension needed. Expectations are for the lumber market to remain stable over the next few weeks.
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