Timber shortages could sharply affect Ballarat's housing construction boom, suppliers have warned.
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Globally, construction timber has been in high demand, pushing up prices and extending build times - imports have been affected, as well as local manufacturers.
In Ballarat, where new home construction is continuing to rise, there are fears the problem will get worse before it gets better.
Ross Street Building Supplies owner Dean Dekoke said a number of factors - a lack of overseas holidays, government stimulus packages, a rush to the regions - have driven up construction numbers, but timber manufacturers haven't been able to keep up with the demand, particularly after 18 months of bushfires, floods, and pandemics.
"They're still producing as much as they were 12 months or two years ago, but spreading that across the market - what normally would be coming in, there's no imports, so our suppliers, the timber mills, can only produce x amount in a day," he said.
"If you go to get a builder to build you a house, they won't be saying we'll start in three weeks time, they're under the pump, and the building materials just aren't out there at the moment.
"I'm getting enquiries from NSW and Queensland, people are willing to pay the freight to get it up there.
"A lot of big building companies go into contracts with people, once they have a contract they have to build the house, so they just think they can ring up and get prefab wall frames and trusses, but those guys are struggling too."
Across town at Robert Sim Building Supplies, manager Ian Phelps said he'd heard the same stories.
"It started off with cypress pine, from northern NSW and Queensland, that was becoming very hard to come by, and lead times for orders were being stretched out," he explained.
"Then it got to the stage, earlier this year, that the companies we deal with wouldn't take orders, they said they were having to fill back orders, so they weren't taking new orders until the others were cleared up.
"Progressively, it's gotten to other different timbers, predominantly pine framing and laminated veneer lumber beams, they're in short supply as well."
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There will be ripple effects across the industry, he warned.
"One of the builders has sent a letter out to people saying they won't make any new starts in the next six months, existing jobs will be delayed for materials and skills shortage," he said.
'Some of the bigger project builders might have locked some resources in, some have been allocated, but in the next six to eight months, there is going to be a problem in the industry.
"One bloke who just phoned, he wanted 500 lengths of timber, and I said nope, you've got no hope."
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