Wood Shortages Within Acoustics

Timber and Material Shortages Within Acoustics

Over the past few months, there has been timber timber shortages and other softwoods. Unfortunately, this can impact many different industries, including acoustic panel suppliers. As timber is an essential material used in the construction of houses, insulation, and floorboards, it can be hard finding another alternative!

Softwoods are cut from trees, some of the most popular being pine, cedar, spruce, larch, and fir. Prices of all of these are beginning to soar as this situation isn’t a short-term issue. Not only does this affect softwood, but steel, insulation and roofing are becoming scarce as stock begins to shorten.

One of the main reasons for this global problem is that there just aren’t enough trees to go around. Workers are constantly cutting down trees, and new ones could take decades to grow back. In the UK, softwood imports were down over 20% compared to the previous year! It’s said that during this time, the US and China will be paying far more to receive timber supplies.

COVID is also a major factor in this shortage, as demands were high due to lockdown. Lots of people were stuck at home looking for DIY projects to complete in their spare time, which lowered stock greatly. Timber is extremely favoured in the DIY acoustic world, and it’s normally used in flooring, insulation and sound panels. However, you may be looking at prices upwards of 150% compared to what you’ve seen previously.

So, when will this be fixed? Well, not for a long time it seems, as the latest reports show this softwood insufficiency could last until the end of this year. Meaning you might want to wait until the end of 2021 and hope for more timber to surface.

Like many other acoustic supply companies, we will struggle to find and receive stock during this time, however, we offer many alternative methods which you can find here: https://www.acoustic-supplies.com/