[TowerTalk] Supply problems

[Lux, Jim]

On 10/1/21 8:58 AM, k7lxc--- via TowerTalk wrote:
> Howdy, TowerTalkians -
>       I have a customer that just ordered a Heights crank-up. They quoted him 12 months delivery. They can't get the aluminum. Probably not the only company with problems.  Cheers,Steve    K7LXC

I'd be a bit skeptical unless it's some exotic alloy or shape. Our local 
suppliers (LA area) don't seem to have any problem unless you need 
gargantuan quantities.  It *is* more expensive than a few years ago (as 
in 50-100% more).  Very noticeable at the Home Depot, Lowes, Ace retail 
too, for stuff like small angles and architectural shapes.  I've noticed 
that some extrusions have longer lead times too, whether from reduced 
staffing, or reduced overall demand, I don't know. Extrusion companies 
tend to work in batches, and they don't want to buy expensive raw stock, 
when there's a possibility that prices will be coming down, and they'll 
be stuck with a bunch of extrusion that is expensive.

Chemical conversion coating places seem to be having longer lead times 
too.  You used to be able to get almost overnight service for small 
runs, and now it's "a couple weeks" - For those folks, it's workforce. 
They don't want to ramp up too quickly, only to see another downturn. 
Wages have gone up, too, but that's less of a factor - that sort of 
becomes a pass through - getting something alodined or iridited just 
costs more, and in my industry (aerospace, generically) we're not trying 
to eke every nickel out of the price.


Maybe Heights needs to hit a price point and had "pre COVID, pre tariff" 
aluminum prices built into their cost structure.  I don't know what the 
raw material vs labor split is, but I suspect raw materials are a big 
fraction of the cost.