Talking with shop owners etc

[Vortex2]

We know several farmers and small shop owners.
They are having major problems obtaining stocks of all sorts of stuff.

Compost for example ordered in Nov 2021 is only now coming in.
Compost ordered today will be delivered in December.
Other stuff is delayed - and only 70% of any order actually arrives.
One place has 1500+ power tools on back order with no sign of them coming anytime soon.

I then visited B & Q and noticed that the shelves were full and the prices were not stupidly high.

I located a manager to have a chat with : apparently they have warehouses full of stuff .. although she didn't know if new stock was arriving.

So B & Q at least can keep providing tools etc for several months at least.

She said that the only area which had problems was .. garden furniture.
Those tacky garden sets are £200 more expensive than last year

Also .... paint brushes are more expensive.

I then asked around more : the mega wholesalers are prioritising the huge chains and so the smaller places cannot get stock.

Not sure what to make of all this ... maybe all the small retailers will simply go bust?

[adam2]

Not noticed any local shortage of hand or power tools. I have noticed shortages of

Corrugated iron, severe.
Corrugated polycarbonate roofing.
Barbed wire.
building timber.
Tarpaulins/canvas.

Supplies were already a bit stretched by the recent flood disasters in Germany, and then came the war in Ukraine with the above materials in great demand for fortifications and emergency repairs.

One rather odd shortage is white boilersuits/coveralls, only white garments are scarce, plenty of navy blue and other colours. My theory is resistance fighters in Ukraine were wearing these garments as improvised camo in the snow, and another layer against cold.

[Mark]

Think that many building materials are currently 'tight'.

Friend of mine works for a major housebuilder - very stop/start at the mo as various materials keep running out - not consistent which ones - problems are mostly being overcome by shopping around for alternative suppliers and/or substituting with different grades...

[adam2]

There is now reportedly a shortage of Chlorine used to disinfect the water in swimming pools.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-61589380

Might perhaps also be a case of lacking basic common sense regarding water chlorination ? Chlorine in cylinders is indeed in short supply. But chlorine tablets that release chlorine when dissolved in water are in plentiful supply via fleabay and other sources.

I suspect that throwing a handful of chlorine tablets into the pool is too low tech ! BTDTGTTS

[Mark]

Bit surprised that that the pool in the BBC article references chlorine cylinders - my understanding is that most municipal pools use calcium hypochlorite, or maybe sodium hypochlorite, neither of which are gasses....

Some UK public swimming pools forced to close over national chlorine shortage:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... e-shortage

The Pool Water Treatment Advisory Group (PWTAG), a UK-based independent membership organisation, said there was a national shortage of calcium hypochlorite, a solid form of chlorine. This has driven up prices by between 50% and 60%. Janice Calvert, the group’s chair, said manufacturing in China had declined, particularly in the run-up to the winter Olympics, because Beijing has been tightening up on environmental pollution and closing down factories that were non-compliant. She added there was a problem shipping chemicals from China to the UK, with the only route now being via Antwerp. Moreover, INEOS, the main manufacturer of sodium hypochlorite (a liquid form of chloride) in the UK, shut down its plant for May and part of June.

As a result of Brexit, chlorine manufacturers have to obtain separate regulatory approval for their products in the UK as well as the EU, at an initial cost of £100,000 per product, but approvals only last 10 years, in a relatively small market. This has led some suppliers to buy from others that have approval, which means there are only two main suppliers left in the UK, said PWTAG. The Chemical Business Association said: “The horrific situation in Ukraine has wrought further havoc on an already heavily disrupted chemical supply chain caused by factors such as Covid, Brexit or driver shortages.”

Brexit (and UK REACh legislation) was always going to impact/limit the availability of some chemicals in the UK.
I did highlight it on here..., but was laughed out of class by Stumuz at the time.

[mr brightside]

It's corporate agreements in the supply chain, the power and selfishness of big business, it grinds my gears. I'm now prioritising small local businesses for my saw blades etc. and have been for a long time, he's been having trouble getting me samples of budget 8tpi wood saws for some reason.