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commodity shortages (1 Viewer)

Steel is in huge demand and there are shortages.  Concrete work is basically shut down for the steel issue (rebar).

Chicken is in shortage because Americans have left red meat in droves in the recent years driving up demand bigly.

I feel like we will see electricity shortages this summer.  

Pool Chlorine is on the list, obviously.  Shocked it didn't make the first list.

 
The lumber thing is a bit sketchy, at least in Northern WI/UP of MI.  My boss is building a vacation home in Northern WI and of course is running into issues.  He was told the mills up there aren't processing the raw lumber because they like the higher prices they are getting.  Apparently there are plenty of loggers to cut timber but the mills aren't buying so the loggers aren't cutting as much as they could be.  This is what he was told and he believes it because he spends alot of time up there and did notice there aren't as many logging trucks as normal.  

 
The lumber thing is a bit sketchy, at least in Northern WI/UP of MI.  My boss is building a vacation home in Northern WI and of course is running into issues.  He was told the mills up there aren't processing the raw lumber because they like the higher prices they are getting.  Apparently there are plenty of loggers to cut timber but the mills aren't buying so the loggers aren't cutting as much as they could be.  This is what he was told and he believes it because he spends alot of time up there and did notice there aren't as many logging trucks as normal.  
The trucker issue is driving a lot of this.  Amazon is taking drivers out of long haul hazmat routes and paying them the same to do short haulers.  If you could be home every night rather than staying in a hotel 2 weeks in a row hauling sand or logs or gas wouldn't you too?

Most sites won't cut without trucks on site, you can't let logs just sit on the ground.  No trucks, no logs moving, no logs, no boards, no boards, no farmhouse aesthetic white walled gaines homes get built out.

 
The trucker issue is driving a lot of this.  Amazon is taking drivers out of long haul hazmat routes and paying them the same to do short haulers.  If you could be home every night rather than staying in a hotel 2 weeks in a row hauling sand or logs or gas wouldn't you too?

Most sites won't cut without trucks on site, you can't let logs just sit on the ground.  No trucks, no logs moving, no logs, no boards, no boards, no farmhouse aesthetic white walled gaines homes get built out.
Good money to be had if you can drive a truck.  https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/texas-company-offering-truck-drivers-14k-per-week

 
I admit I bought into the TP and flour "panic" when the pandemic started, but I'm not going out of my way to spend more coming out of it after getting my debt lowered and savings padded. If lumber and appliance prices are too crazy I won't remodel my kitchen this year. If car prices are too expensive due to whatever shortage, I'll hold out. The market will work it pricing out. No way I'm panic spending. 

 
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Winter Wheat

Frozen Orange Juice

Pork Bellies...which are used to make to bacon.  Which you would find on a bacon and lettuce and tomato sandwich.
Okay, pork belly prices have been dropping all morning, which means that everybody is waiting for it to hit rock bottom, so they can buy low. Which means that the people who own the pork belly contracts are saying, "Hey, we're losing all our damn money, and Christmas is around the corner, and I ain't gonna have no money to buy my son the G.I. Joe with the kung-fu grip! And my wife ain't gonna f... my wife ain't gonna make love to me if I got no money!" So they're panicking right now, they're screaming "SELL! SELL!" to get out before the price keeps dropping. They're panicking out there right now, I can feel it.

 
The lumber thing is a bit sketchy, at least in Northern WI/UP of MI.  My boss is building a vacation home in Northern WI and of course is running into issues.  He was told the mills up there aren't processing the raw lumber because they like the higher prices they are getting.  Apparently there are plenty of loggers to cut timber but the mills aren't buying so the loggers aren't cutting as much as they could be.  This is what he was told and he believes it because he spends alot of time up there and did notice there aren't as many logging trucks as normal.  
The lumber thing is real, due to a bad estimate of the speed things are re-opening, plus, logging limits in Canada. However, it should "stabilize" in time... by that, I mean, prices should go down in volatility, but, might not ever reach the old lows again. Just find a new baseline level above the previous. 

 
Okay, pork belly prices have been dropping all morning, which means that everybody is waiting for it to hit rock bottom, so they can buy low. Which means that the people who own the pork belly contracts are saying, "Hey, we're losing all our damn money, and Christmas is around the corner, and I ain't gonna have no money to buy my son the G.I. Joe with the kung-fu grip! And my wife ain't gonna f... my wife ain't gonna make love to me if I got no money!" So they're panicking right now, they're screaming "SELL! SELL!" to get out before the price keeps dropping. They're panicking out there right now, I can feel it.
Most of my VERY limited knowledge of markets comes from that movie.  It's sad.  

 
I'm seeing a lot of shortages lately, with a lot of different reasons.

Gas - caused by hackers & ransomware attack

Lumber - caused by skyrocketing demand as we come out of COVID

silicon chips - factories shut down while demand boomed

plastics - raw good manufacturers shut down when Texas froze

What else?  
Tin - This is a big one too.......

 

A tin squeeze is developing on metal markets which has the potential to make the recent fun in GameStop seem like a minor skirmish because tin is a critical element in modern electronics and governments are starting to take notice.

The most obvious sign that tin is being squeezed between excess demand and a supply shortage is the cash price for immediate delivery, up 80% since this time last year from $14,000 a ton on the London Metal Exchange (LME) to $25,290/t.

 
Pretty much anything you need to build equipment: steel, copper, chips, whatever. It's crushing us right now, we just had a supplier tell us that they have to push deliveries in May-June out 6 weeks.

This gas thing will have a ripple effect as well but we'll overcome that eventually. The silicon chip thing is going to be devastating to a lot of industries.

 
Tin - This is a big one too.......

 

A tin squeeze is developing on metal markets which has the potential to make the recent fun in GameStop seem like a minor skirmish because tin is a critical element in modern electronics and governments are starting to take notice.

The most obvious sign that tin is being squeezed between excess demand and a supply shortage is the cash price for immediate delivery, up 80% since this time last year from $14,000 a ton on the London Metal Exchange (LME) to $25,290/t.
well, the good news is if you can't get microchips, you don't need tin solder to attach them.

 
This is a super exaggerated story that misuses the term "salary". That 14k per week is an outlier top line number paid to an O/O, an independent contractor. That means expenses come out of that.  It isn't an income number.

But, the truck driver shortage is real and truck drivers are making very good money if they can operate safely and are willing to work. But that has been true for a number of years now. It is exacerbated in certain industries right now that laid off during Covid due to no freight moving, like fuel haulers.  The same truckers are still driving, they just don't want to go back to segments of the industry that laid them off. The same thing happens in cycles with oil field work.

 
The lumber thing is real, due to a bad estimate of the speed things are re-opening, plus, logging limits in Canada. However, it should "stabilize" in time... by that, I mean, prices should go down in volatility, but, might not ever reach the old lows again. Just find a new baseline level above the previous. 
Huge opportunity for composite alternatives where price was the biggest issue, like decking.

 
but inflation!!
I don't know that this is really an inflation thing.  It's not a matter of things being more expensive, it's that we physically can't get them.  Obviously, that drives up prices but this doesn't feel like it's just a devaluation of currency thing.

I think it's more about the disruption to supply chains brought on by COVID finally working it's way thru the system.  Demand increased much faster and ahead of supply after both being suppressed for most of last year.

I'd love to hear more from actual economists about the causes and effects of these shortages.

 
Guessing they are impacted by resin shortages / price increases too though 
Maybe. I saw a billboard for Trex the other day that promoted their pricing is comparable to wood now. Haven't priced a project out recently though. Was looking into composite decking last year and didn't use it because of price. Would be a no brainer now if comparable IMO.

 
I don't know that this is really an inflation thing.  It's not a matter of things being more expensive, it's that we physically can't get them.  Obviously, that drives up prices but this doesn't feel like it's just a devaluation of currency thing.

I think it's more about the disruption to supply chains brought on by COVID finally working it's way thru the system.  Demand increased much faster and ahead of supply after both being suppressed for most of last year.

I'd love to hear more from actual economists about the causes and effects of these shortages.
It's going to vary wildly by industry whether it's a raw material, or labor shortage, driving it.  

 
It's going to vary wildly by industry whether it's a raw material, or labor shortage, driving it.  
It makes sense to me that a labor shortage could be related to inflation.  I know we are seeing that too.  I don't think that's at fault WRT the various commodities listed, except maybe truckers and lumber.

 
Maybe. I saw a billboard for Trex the other day that promoted their pricing is comparable to wood now. Haven't priced a project out recently though. Was looking into composite decking last year and didn't use it because of price. Would be a no brainer now if comparable IMO.
Yeah, if it’s comparable it’s worth it because you eliminate the maintenance cost

i haven’t  priced it myself either, I just know that just about every plastic we use in my industry is facing shortages and price increases 

 

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