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Lorry drivers, as in a lack of to transport them about.
Brexit, the gift that keeps on giving*

* Sorry to bring it to the fore again, but what can you do.

I got some 19x100x8'(4 of) off saw cheapo pine boards for a job and it was nearly 30 quid. Cheaper though than par. Thank god for owning a planer/thicknesser
 
I had a chat with a guy from a local joinery firm last week and he said that the industry is expecting it to return to normal next year. As I've moaned about on a previous thread, I've had to delay my workshop build until next year as my budget was blown. I've also had to accept a labour only quote from a builder due to the ever increasing timber prices.
 
Shortage of supply & higher than usual demand, that said I was told the price increases have worked & theres been a fall in demand so the increases are calming down.
Hopefully Mike is right & next year will see things returning to normal but I doubt the prices will get back to anywhere near 2019 prices
 
Did a job this summer, sourcing cement was a problem and timber was very expensive, boards have also increased in price.
Obviously the pandemic hasn't helped but the big issue is a shortage of HGV qualified drivers, many EU drivers have returned to their homes. I'm afraid this is due to Brexit, and I think things are going to get a lot worse. Unfortunately supply chains are a thing and ours are not robust enough.
What annoys me is this was foreseeable and people were warned.
 
Well. Yes and no.

At home in Denmark, we have also seen significant price rises and shortages for materials and as they don't have to worry about the Brexit, luckily, it must initially have been due to something else.
However, the UK is experiencing a supply chain crisis as pointed out above, so Brexit may also be pushing prices up too.
 
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like farmers, the companies who pay these truckers aren't paying enough, so it only appeals to eastern europeans, and then they wonder why UK workers won't even apply for the jobs.

I am sceptical about prices returning to how it was before, but well see, it would be very welcome.
 
There are global supply issues affecting all, but the UK is likely to face more difficulty for EU sourced products.

If you are a producer in the EU and can't make enough to meet demand, who are you going to prioritise? The 27 countries where you can sell free of any tariffs, VAT complexities or import formalities, or the one country where you have to jump through hoops? The only reason you would deal with the odd one out is if you could generate a higher gross margin by putting your prices up.

It might change as production meets demand and producers look for volume sales wherever they can, but for now, why would any EU producer see the UK as a priority? Add to that the fact that our press and politicians have been rude about, and to, the EU, why will they bother?

So yes, Denmark will have seen shortages and price rises just like we have but they are likely to see a faster return to normal.

We are beginning to reap what we have sown.
 
It's about to get worse for most imported goods as so far the UK has not been applying any of the checks we are required to by law and international agreement. That will change in October when we must start applying these checks etc. Most industry bodies have been telling the government about this for a long long time who have just stuck their head in the sand as usual. The driver shortage has 2 main causes, the first is yes Brexit when most of the foreign drivers here left but also the bigger problem that on average UK national drivers are leaving the industry as they can get more money working for Lidl in-store per hour than driving (where the average rate is less than £10/h) without any of the associated drawbacks such as dungy hours and being away from home. Also The fact that if you are doing international routes then there is a good risk you will be robbed/assaulted and as happened 2 months ago murdered by crooks trying to get your cargo or by people traffickers trying to get clients into the back of your lorry.

https://trans.info/en/39-year-old-trucker-killed-after-stabbing-in-french-rest-area-237393
 
The people of the wrong side of the pond are saying that prices are to fall soon since “timber futures” are dumping.
Assuming futures will match real economy and assuming yards and mills will ease on prices without being forced (by oversupply or regulation, ie)
 
Can't understand it...as most soft wood comes from NON EU countries anyway....ie Russia and Finland....
practically all is shipped by boat.....
So this blaming Brexit is all bxxxxks.....
it's just the greedy middle men again....
If u think wood is expensive, try buying it here.....
Just found a guy who takes his big truck from Crete to the mainland and just loads it to the max.....apprently wood is about 5 times cheaper on the mailand....
 
Just found a guy who takes his big truck from Crete to the mainland and just loads it to the max.....apprently wood is about 5 times cheaper on the mailand...
you live on an idyllic island with 9 months+ a year of sunshine....do you think you are gonna get much sympathy about timber being a bit dear :)
 
I would say timber pricing is more to do with closures of sawmills due to covid and a logisitics nightmare of ships, materials, containers all being in the wrong place.

brexit is an extra UK gift though....
 
Can't understand it...as most soft wood comes from NON EU countries anyway....ie Russia and Finland....
practically all is shipped by boat.....
So this blaming Brexit is all bxxxxks.....
it's just the greedy middle men again....
If u think wood is expensive, try buying it here.....
Just found a guy who takes his big truck from Crete to the mainland and just loads it to the max.....apprently wood is about 5 times cheaper on the mailand....
I guess it depends on the routes and bureaucracy involved in the selling/shipping; if (for example) Russia and Finland are set up to sell large quantities of softwood into the EU (i.e. all paperwork and trade rules in place) then the fact the UK is no longer an EU member would likely mean additional red tape in getting those deliveries into the UK (either via the EU or direct).
 
Can't understand it...as most soft wood comes from NON EU countries anyway....ie Russia and Finland....
practically all is shipped by boat.....
So this blaming Brexit is all bxxxxks.....
it's just the greedy middle men again....
If u think wood is expensive, try buying it here.....
Just found a guy who takes his big truck from Crete to the mainland and just loads it to the max.....apprently wood is about 5 times cheaper on the mailand....
Errrr.....

Finland uses the Euro as their currency. So it must be in the EU, no? And anyway, most of the redwood I have bought in the UK comes from Latvia and other Baltic states, which are also in the EU,
 
Doesn't most of the timber destined for the UK usually get off-loaded at Rotterdam and then to the UK by lorry?
 
Doesn't most of the timber destined for the UK usually get off-loaded at Rotterdam and then to the UK by lorry?

There are quite a few ports in the Uk that handle high volumes of timber imports - Liverpool, Hull, Shoreham (handles a lot of Scandinavian softwoods) and one of the Peel Ports empire that they operate on the Medway. I don't know how it breaks down in terms of share but would be surprised if Rotterdam accounted for most.

It's not been uncommon over the last year for ships to dock in the Uk and not offload timber as intended as the price being offered by the good old USA had increased so much since they set sail that it made sense to keep on sailing across the Atlantic.

Brexit, Covid and increased demand all came together and created a perfect storm.

As someone has mentioned Lumber Future prices have fallen but according to Bloomberg this has sparked a lot of shelved building projects in the US to come back to life (increasing demand further) which may mean the roller coaster starts going up again.


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