Plasterboard and other building materials are in short supply. Photo / Getty Images
A renovator is concerned a "black market" for Gib plasterboard is developing online with reports of "exorbitant" prices five times the usual, stockpiling and "opportunists" cashing in.
Demand for Gib is soaring amid a nationwide shortage of building materials with New Zealand's major plasterboard manufacturer saying orders for the product are up 10-fold on last February.
A builder told NZME a single sheet usually valued at $35 was listed for $184 while five Gib Aqualine sheets on Trade Me on Fridayhad a starting price of $1050. The seller reported one member for abusive messaging about the price.
The message to the member from the seller said: ''I bought this Gib last week on trade me on TUESDAY...and did not pay $50 a sheet like it was months ago...I have kept what I needed and selling rest, I purchased multiple auctions on Tuesday to get what I required.
''Don't hassle me I did not create [the] shortage.''
Trade Me head of Marketplace Lisa Stewart said the average sale price in its plasterboard
category from October last year to March was $569 - up 412 per cent year on year.
She said the trades were between a willing buyer and a willing seller and the prices were simply market forces at work.
However, she acknowledged ''this behaviour isn't everyone's cup of tea''.
In the six months to March, there was a 26 per cent year-on-year rise in building supplies listings.
A Fletcher's spokeswoman said forward orders for Gib through Winstone Wallboards had continued to increase significantly.
"Orders are 10-fold what they were in February 2021."
The uncapped order system had led to a significant amount of forward-ordering and extended order lead times. Lead times were now out to four months and it had reached production capacity through to June, she said.
From July, Winstone Wallboards will allocate plasterboard to merchant customers based on previous ordering levels.
Its new $400 million plasterboard plant in Tauranga was due to be operational in June 2023.
''This state-of-art facility will increase plasterboard production capacity, well above current and forecast demand levels.''
Beth Wright had been working with a kitchen designer for 12 months but trying to get a builder with Gib was ''crazy''.
''I originally had a builder lined up before Christmas as we are changing things and needed to rip stuff out and re-gib. Then all of a sudden he went dead quiet and he couldn't do it.''
Wright put a post on a community Facebook page seeking Gib. While she found a builder who was relatively confident about sourcing it, she was shocked at how some people were trying to sell it at "exorbitant" prices
The import business owner said it was the "toilet paper saga" all over again and going into stores with Gib on display only to be told it was a pre-order was "frustrating".
Wright was now contemplating trying to order it from overseas and questioned if a black market for the product was emerging.
''I just want my kitchen done because I really hate it. I understand shipping and delays but I don't understand this.''
Master Builders Association national vice-president Johnny Calley of Tauranga-based Calley Homes said the trades were inundated with work and trying to do your own DIY projects was near impossible.
He said Joe Bloggs would not have access to material supply and he warned people to be aware of ''opportunists''.
''It depends who you are dealing with but some businesses will certainly be inflating their prices for work they wouldn't normally take on. You need to do your homework and make sure the business is reputable in the community and has good resource.'
''If they don't you are likely to be a victim of the market.''
Classic Builders national operations manager Rowan McKeany said it understood Gib was doing its best to work with the industry on meeting a backlog of orders by running its factory 24/7.
However, demand for the product continued to skyrocket compounding the situation.
Plasterboard could be imported, but it had not been cost-effective to do so.
''The overseas markets are short too, so there's no appetite there to send Gib to NZ.''
Supply chain issues had mostly stabilised but lead times were still long with an average of eight to 11 weeks, and some product stretching out to 24 weeks, he said.
Rotorua SW Builders owner Steve Wright said he understood some people had bought Gib and were stockpiling it in warehouses, which was ''stupidity''.
The last time he looked on Trade Me a sheet of Gib which was usually valued at $35 was listed at $184.
Wright said the company just had to take its turn on its Gib allocation with its supplier.
Classic Group director Peter Cooney said the industry was unsettled and the market had slowed with inflation and rising interest rates.
''I think people are waiting to see where prices land and what effects the easing of the bank leading criteria has.''
Master Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers NZ chief executive Greg Wallace said plumbers were ''overloaded and stressed''.
''I have never seen it like this in my decades in the industry.''
Covid had delivered another gut punch and Wallace said about 30 per cent of the workforce was isolating.
Having a good relationship with your plumber ''is like having a good relationship with your bank manager or publican, it's really important''.
Maintain To Profit founder Mark Trafford said the renovation market was going ''gang busters''. The company had franchises from Rodney to the Bay of Plenty and Wellington.
''It is absolutely flat stick I have never seen it like this since I started the business 15 years ago... one client is spending $650,000.''
Trafford also raised concerns about ''cowboys',' people being ''overcharged'' and companies hoarding products due to material shortages and delays.
GCP Applied Technologies had also announced price increases for concrete admixtures, cement additives and specialty building materials in Asia-Pacific.
President of Asia-Pacific region Jimmy Ho said the global supply chain impacts on raw material and freight costs had been unprecedented over the past nine months and costs were not expected to subside in the near future.
Building and Construction Minister Poto Williams said there had been long-standing concerns about potential competition issues in the residential building product supplies market, particularly due to the concentrated nature of some markets in the supply chain.
She said the Commerce Commission was looking at competition for the supplies in a market study.
''Industry is working with the Government on critical supply chain resilience, advising on construction sector product dependencies from offshore, as well as options to mitigate further disruptions.''
Poto said residential building consents more than tripled in the past 10 years, and demand for renovations and extensions was the highest in 15 years.
A Consumer NZ spokesperson said during a shortage, a lack of supply versus high demand can make prices rise higher than what materials would usually retail for.
While the Commerce Act allowed the minister to control prices in certain circumstances, these powers were rarely used and unlikely to be used here.
The spokesperson said Consumer NZ hoped resellers would charge a fair price for materials in shortage.
''But the market often sets the price – if someone was willing to pay a high price for Gib that isn't available on a store shelf, there is nothing to stop that happening.''
The industry faces challenges but hopes to bring newcomers and veterans together.