Thursday, September 07, 2006
Hamond Lead Times for September 2006
There is no available machine time left on our major production machines for the month of September.
October is looking pretty full already too, so if you need parts in that timeframe, you need to get hold of us now.
Zinc prices are starting to really hurt. As you likely know if you've been watching here for a while, zinc prices in the last year have more than doubled, going from 60 cents a pound to $1.60 . 2 years ago they were around 40 cents.
Zinc is a major component in most rust-proofing schemes for non-stainless steel. Galvanizing is zinc. Most electro-plating is zinc.
Our suppliers are now surcharging us for zinc. The pricing depends on the supplier and the process, but every zinc process has gotten more expensive in the last few months.
We've tried to hold the line on prices, and we've tried to get our suppliers to hold their prices, but we seem to be fighting a losing battle here.
If your product uses zinc, likely on the next repricing we're going to have to raise your prices because of zinc pricing.
And the silly thing is, there's no reason for it. There's no zinc shortage. The world isn't running out of zinc, or zinc production facilities. There's no looming demand for zinc. It's all speculation. Meantime, it hurts manufacturers.
Oh, well, I can't change it. Hopefully this sillyness will go away soon and we can go back to sub-dollar zinc pricing.
Michael
October is looking pretty full already too, so if you need parts in that timeframe, you need to get hold of us now.
Zinc prices are starting to really hurt. As you likely know if you've been watching here for a while, zinc prices in the last year have more than doubled, going from 60 cents a pound to $1.60 . 2 years ago they were around 40 cents.
Zinc is a major component in most rust-proofing schemes for non-stainless steel. Galvanizing is zinc. Most electro-plating is zinc.
Our suppliers are now surcharging us for zinc. The pricing depends on the supplier and the process, but every zinc process has gotten more expensive in the last few months.
We've tried to hold the line on prices, and we've tried to get our suppliers to hold their prices, but we seem to be fighting a losing battle here.
If your product uses zinc, likely on the next repricing we're going to have to raise your prices because of zinc pricing.
And the silly thing is, there's no reason for it. There's no zinc shortage. The world isn't running out of zinc, or zinc production facilities. There's no looming demand for zinc. It's all speculation. Meantime, it hurts manufacturers.
Oh, well, I can't change it. Hopefully this sillyness will go away soon and we can go back to sub-dollar zinc pricing.
Michael
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