The Premium Debate: Supply chain issues a huge concern for people

Unpredictability in the supply chain continues to cause havoc as businesses struggle to price jobs. Photo / Getty Images

OPINION

Companies are being hammered by soaring freight and material costs as the supply chain crisis worsens. Unpredictability continues to cause havoc as businesses struggle to price jobs - one exporter has an 18-month backlog of machinery sales it cannot put a cost on.

This is exactly what happens when you shut down the world's economies to hide from Covid. This was all well known in early 2020 and we simply followed suit. What else were we expecting?

- Anna M

This is why we need to produce more in NZ. Why close the timber mills and send logs to China to be bought back milled? Why get urea for diesel when we can produce it here? Why close Marsden Point to increase our reliance on overseas imports? Same with Tiwai smelter, oil and gas and many, many other things. Next we will be importing beef and lamb as the country is putting our productive land into trees. The more we rely on imports, the more needy our country becomes and more reliant on offshore companies and imports.

- John W

The country is not "putting productive land into trees". Despite the hysteria, the overall size of the exotic plantation forest estate has actually shrunk a little from what it was decades ago. Dairy has hugely increased over the period. Visited the Canterbury Plains recently? trees bowled to milk cows on totally unsuitable soils using vast amounts of water. Sheep and beef has shrunk a little mostly given reduced world demand for strong wool but is still around 5 x the area in trees.

- Greg M

NZ big construction seems to live a fairy tale life of the Goldilocks. In spite of a huge building boom, historic low interest rates, constant zoning changes and massive house prices they are still complaining. Too hot, too cold, they want everything on a plate just right and the government and the rest of the world to do it all for them. Labour, zoning, transport, lack of skills, shipping, all seems to be things that our construction industry complains about - they seem to want a fairy tale life. They already have had a building boom for a decade, but seem to want the government to subsidise and support them at every step of the way. NZ is far away, global shipping firms are not coming out here as they can make more profit elsewhere. It's not the NZ government's problem that global shipping giants are putting up prices.

- Virginia S

I think the article tells us why the government needs to be mindful that the economic woes don't end when the covid restrictions end. It'll be tough year, maybe two quarters of 2023 as well.

- Di Z

Shock , horror, these small businesses live in the real world of inflation not that of an IMF report or bank economist forecast that the Minister of Finance loves to quote. A salient lesson for business editors who quote the IMF also. The unavailability of Jib board will seize up the entire building industry.

- David S

Read the full story here: Hidden freight and material costs skyrocket as companies battle backlogs and some go bust

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• Republished comments may be edited at the editor's discretion.