FORT Fencing
Agricultural & Equine Fencing
FORT March Newsletter - 2024
15 March 2024
Writing this on a day in mid March where it isn’t raining and there’s none on forecast for another couple of days seems almost surreal, there’s even some blue sky with, dare I say it, some glimpses of sunshine? It’s not just the weather which is improving though; we have longer daylight hours and with the budget out of the way we know more clearly where we are economically.
Speaking to our customers in general terms, workloads are tighter than they were. However, there’s also a backlog of work that needs to catch up from the awful weather we’ve been experiencing.
There are a few warning signals on availability; some block manufacturers have gone onto allocation and that’s a sign of some increased demand (it can also be factory upgrades causing short-term issues). If the economy does improve and base rates fall, new build housing demand will increase and start to take building materials out of our sector. Manufacturers have cut back and won’t be able to respond quickly.
There continues to be more growth and progress throughout the business, with a new 26tonne crane truck added to the fleet, a new meeting room in our Unit B showroom and additional storage space for new product ranges (more on that below!).
General Availability & Price Update
Our roundup of key indicators is shown below
Weather & Climate - As you can see from this link, we had 242% of average rainfall, 5 less frost days than average and it was 3.1degrees warmer than average. No wonder many builders are now reporting webbed feet!
Currency - The £ is quite stable at the moment, but with elections in the UK & US this could become quite choppy in the next few months. The Swedish Krown also remains fairly weak and that impacts some timber pricing.
Oil Prices - We’ve added this in, because it has such an impact on costs and as the issues in the Middle East develop this will need to be watched. Against a high of over $120 the current price sits at about $85, which is fairly flat over the last year.
Containers - After the massive surge caused by terrorist action in the Gulf, as expected shipping has readjusted and container prices have fallen, but they remain high in comparison to the past year or more. General demand is not strong and we’d expect them to keep falling, unless there’s further action.
Steel Bar - Steel prices have fallen back in the last month, to quite low levels. This probably indicates where global economic activity is at the moment ….. in the doldrums?
Timber - This is a chart for the US market, but it shows that prices have risen, slowly and steadily over the last year. European prices are still fairly static but the outlook seems to indicate that they will rise during the summer.
Inflation - Inflation has fallen dramatically and is now probably around 4.5%. This is still well ahead of the ‘plan’ (2%) and more worryingly it doesn’t look to be falling much further. That will limit base rate reductions and thereby lower mortgages.
For the first time in almost 2 years we’re beginning to return to a note of caution around availability – we’ll keep you posted!
Please be careful when quoting ahead, product inflation looks to be returning in some areas. It’s still too early to say if they will come through.
Agricultural & Equine Fencing at FORT
Agricultural & Equine Fencing at FORT
We’re pleased to announce our new stock holding of Agricultural & Equine Fencing materials at FORT. You’ll find more information below with a link to our website which has our full stock portfolio.
Those warmer days are finally among us & with that FORT have you covered for your farmland or yard with our great range Agricultural & Equine fencing materials, for a breakdown of what we have here at FORT, see below. We’re pleased to showcase all of our new stock holding, just click the link below.
What you can find within our stock:
UC4 treated posts & rails (square/round)
Creosote treated posts & rails (square/round)
Machined half-round rails
Gates, both timber & galvanised
Gate posts
Tornado Wire
Ironmongery & Accessories
Our team are on hand and ready to take any queries related to this new offering, feel free to get in touch with us using office@fort-m.com or calling the team on 01488 505 800.
As always, please do not assume stock availability - check with the sales office!
Our reputation relies on word of mouth and testimonials from our valued customers, and as such we'd love for you to share reviews of your experiences with us on either Google, Facebookor TrustPilotif you have the time.
Thank you very much for your ongoing support of FORT!
Best regards,
Matt, Tim & Keith
The Directors