So what is going on with Whiteboard supply I hear you ask?
Starting from about November last year we have seen unprecedented Whiteboard sales in the absence of some of our opposition’s capacity to supply. This has seen an increase of 41% growth in the last 6 months for D&R Henderson. Whilst that sounds impressive, nothing replaces the fact we hate letting down customers, upside is we are helping many more that came to us with no other option.
So what is influencing the insatiable appetite for Whiteboard?
There is more than one problem here, and at the expense of sharing the same reasons as the Pine Framing and LVL market, cast your eyes across the list:-
- Global Shipping delays, and more recently the blocked Suez Canal.
- Resin components, which primarily come out of Asia, has seen supply stretched, exacerbated now by pricing that has accelerated into triple digit growth in less than 12 months.
- Melamine Paper delays with countries like Thailand, Germany & Malaysia having hard lock downs due to Covid, this has increased delays with manufacturing and shipping.
- Increased supply into USA, backed by Biden’s attempts to stimulate the economy, has seen off the scale growth, in a market that is prepared to pay a higher price than Australia. Hence supply from other continents is being redirected to where the
Americans are paying top dollar. - Lastly our own building stimulus saw first home buyers racing out to get homes built before the cut off, fortunately the Australian Government has extended the construction start date. All the while in the absence of global travel, many Australian are renovating their homes with their hard earnt holiday money, now investing it in their homes.
Whilst Australia has historically been relatively self-sufficient with Whiteboard, any shortfall before Covid was mainly coming out of South Africa or New Zealand. We are now hearing more and more that other countries are most likely keeping it for their own domestic markets.
At D&R Henderson you can be assured that our substrate fibre for Whiteboard comes from Australian Radiata plantation pine. Unfortunately the ingredients for making Resins and Papers are sourced from overseas, which is why all Aussie manufacturers are impacted by the same issues, just not D&R Henderson.
So the million dollar question, will we see a light at the end of the tunnel for supply? Probably not this side of Xmas this year, we really need the USA to slow their demand on some imported products, that otherwise would have back filled our short fall.
Our sales mantra for now is “Place an Order” and we will do our best to supply it. We won’t cancel your order without telling you, nor is it our intention to over promise and under deliver. Though please don’t call asking for availability without being prepared to place an order, as you can call back in another 4 weeks’ time, and can expect the same response. Those that order, get placed in a chronological queue.
We provide multiple sizes, though commonly 2400x1200mm, 2400x1800mm, 3600x1200mm & 3600x1800mm sheet sizes. There are 3 finishes, Satin (super smooth), CTX (slightly textured) and our most popular seller, and lastly Décor (stipple). Please visit our site drhenderson.com.au to find out more.