How Covid-19 Crisis Has Impacted Construction Supply Chains, and How It Will Affect the Roofing Industry
Taken from a post by Chris Alberts, Western States Roofing Contractors Association
While the U.S. roofing industry has not yet been affected to the extent of some other countries, the impact of the virus on Chinese production has been devastating for global markets and construction supply chains. Mass public quarantines, curfews, and travel restrictions implemented to help fight the spread of the disease have crippled Chinese manufacturing and shipping sectors, among others. In the roofing industry in particular, the most drastic effects have been on the manufacture and supply of solar roofing systems, with production grinding to a halt in the most affected areas of mainland China — where 60%-70% of the world’s solar roofing panels are manufactured.
Solar roofing materials are not the only ones seeing a decline in production due to the rapid spread of COVID-19. Production of aluminum, plastic, slate, timber and rubber have all declined worldwide since the early weeks of the outbreak — mainly due to the lack of workforce and transportation stoppages plaguing much of Asia. One area that has been hit particularly hard by the virus is China’s Shandong Province, which is not only home to some of China’s largest aluminum manufacturers, but also produces more than 90% of the world’s collated roofing nails.
The most recent estimates suggest that manufacturing plants in the region are currently operating at only 30%, and some project the workforce shortages will continue for the foreseeable future. Some American roofing contractors have already implemented four to six week delays on projects due to this material shortage.
Among the ramifications U.S. roofing companies can expect to begin feeling, if they haven’t already, include higher costs and price fluctuations, material shortages, logistics breakdowns, order cancellations, and extended delays in product fulfillment and shipping. All of that ultimately leads to slower project completion times.
Here at Wayne’s Roofing we are doing everything we can to plan for whatever comes. If you have questions or concerns, we recommend reaching out. We will all get through this bump in the road, as long as we work together.