Good evening, good people.
Just want to give a piece of advice to all of you who are in the starting blocks for purchasing materials for a larger project.
In my professional role, I have good insight into purchasing agreements with all the building material suppliers in the country. I can give a few examples of announced price increases, but in general, most things will rise sharply.
Reinforcement steel - up 12%
Total increase of 35% since last fall.
Shortage of steel worldwide, China is paying incredibly well right now.
Structural timber (C24) - up 15%
Total increase of 40% since last fall.
Shortage due to closed sawmills at the start of the pandemic, the bark beetle, and wet ground in the forest. The USA pays double for a cubic meter of pine, so it's profitable to ship away.
OSB - up 20%
Will rise for another month, then the forecast is that all building material suppliers will have emptied their warehouses, and then it's over.
It will come in batches starting in April, but the price level will likely remain.
Instead, plan with plywood, chipboard, tongue and groove, or extra hard gypsum.
Other sheet materials - up 10 - 20%
Due to the shortage of OSB, there will be a scramble for other wood-based sheet materials on the market.
So in other words, a timber-framed house can increase by about 10-20% in material costs compared to calculations made last fall. As it looks now, it can differ by 5% from one week to another.
My advice is to start and place orders without the construction company or builder having the right to adjustments, alternatively, wait until the fall to see if the situation has calmed down.
