Howzit Swaylockians, Got some new price quotes from Fiberglass Hi yesterday and can't believe how high they're going. A 5 gallon bucket of 1421 UV resin is going for $ 145. And 5 gallons of acetone is $ 56.50. How are we supposed to set any prices when the costs are rising on a weekly basis. I usually make a new price list about every 2 years but it seems I'll have to quote prices when on the spot when the blanks come to me. GiGi at F.H. said that the lady who does their pricing is pulling her hair out trying to deal with it. Most of the other materials used in board building are also going up but not as fast as resin and acetone. JPS glass has gone up almost 50% with their one time price increase, catalyst up 10% same with SA and Styrene. Frustrating as heck. Aloha,Kokua
yeah but Exxon earned record PROFIT this last quarter so its all worthwhile…
…under the current political direction, things will only get worse.
Hey man, isn’t this a surf design forum… Don’t confuse us with the facts! Ha! Seriously… ugh, what are you gonna do? Maybe old Roy S. and his pure wood boards was on to something… ambrose - how is the koa/fire/stone adz coming, gotta prepare for the dark days… You guys on the home of KKCR… Thank 'em for me, as the aloha flows out of my computers speakers, and keeps work bearable… esp. now that I moved my comp to my classroom! ha! Taylor
funny thing is… they quote oil prices going up when fuel and resin goes up…20 years ago when i was a mechanic 5litres valvoline oil was $14.95… its still that price and regularly goes on special for $12.95???
Kinda makes you wonder what the big corporations are paying for the same stuff, you know, large quantities, overseas use, cheap labor?
www.economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3238988
howdy kokua,
above is some history and the current facts, it may get better, but for who? The Economist uses for the fist time the word “gangsterism”.
its come to my attention that glassing my own shapes or letting the local shops do it is now almost equal $.
goodlivinggoodsurfing
chris
Well Kokua, that’ll be the way of ol’ Ted Wilson… I recall two years ago that Kilgo’s would sell surfboard laminating for about 1/3 less than FH. Their finish resin was questionable, but I use so very little it didn’t matter.
I’m not sure Kilgo’s sells lam resin any more. They “ran out” for quite a while, I’m suspicious. The help there can’t/won’t identify the product or where it comes from.
As for MEKP i use all UV cure; a little styrene in the finish coat; make my own surfacing agent (but why I dunno, since it’s less than a nickel a board more at FH). Competition is the name of the game.
Try getting a better price anywhere (West Marine, Ala Wai Marine, where else)? and let us know.
As a resin peddler, here is the deal. Resin is going up because the raw materials are in short supply. Why? The Polyester resin manufactures are competeing on a world market against a lot of other types of plastics. For instance Styrene, which has gone up tons is used in a lot of other products. Unsaturated Polyester Resin only uses 4% of the world supply. China is a huge factor in this, they are gobbling up all the available raw materials. The chemical companies that make the raw materials have been losing money for the last 5 to 7 years, until 2004. Now they are finally coming out of the red, and they don’t intend to switch around their profitability now. Also since they had been unprofitable, no new plants have gone in world wide. It is not going to get better for at least 2 years.
Fiberglass has increased due to supply and demand and added energy cost. Carbon fiber that you all like to talk about, forget about it. Good luck at finding any. Even 3K carbon is drying up. The only thing left is large tow carbon, not good for surfboards.
Epoxy has gone up significantly also. I have truckload customers that have increased their costs upwards of 40% on epoxy over the last 12 months.
My suggestion, show a little support and loyalty to your vendors. If things get real tight this year (and the probably will) and they get put on allocation, you want to be taken care of.
Sluggo