IN THE INDUSTRY
SUPPLY CHAIN UPDATE:
A 2022 Forecast for the Surfacing Industry By Matthew Bodoff
According to the NKBA, an estimated 10.2 million kitchens and 14.2 million bathrooms are renovated every year. That means every day, tens of thousands of consumers
sold to fabricators across the country, which vary in size from large companies to small individually owned businesses. The slabs can be sold direct to consumers through design
are entering their local fabrication shops, big box stores and
centers, big box stores such as Home Depot or Lowe’s, or at
design centers to peruse samples and choose materials for
the site of fabrication. Each time that slab moves from one
the new kitchen or bathroom of their dreams. Very few can
point in the supply chain to another, there are transportation
even comprehend the journey a countertop will have to make
and storage costs involved as well as profit margins that need
from creation to delivery or consider how the supply chain
to be met to make the businesses viable. This adds up to the
affects timelines and budgets. Of course, that was until the fall
end consumer paying between $75-$150 per square foot for a
of 2021, when the words “supply chain challenges” were in
product that originally cost much less to manufacture.
everyone’s vocabulary, and consumers everywhere could see
In North America, most of these products, especially
the effects when they went to grocery or home goods stores.
quartz surfaces, are manufactured overseas in countries like
From Factory to Installation We can’t talk about how supply chain challenges affect the
India, Vietnam, Spain, Malaysia and Turkey. This creates a long and complicated supply line that relies on efficient ocean transport of these slabs form their home ports to local
surfacing industry without first looking at how engineered
warehouses. But as we’ve seen repeatedly in the news recently,
surfaces such as quartz and solid surface are made. These
that system has been anything but efficient.
products are all called engineered surfaces because they are
The cost of an ocean container shipment from Asia to
manufactured from a blend of chemical binding agents along
the United States has increased over 500% in the past year
with natural minerals to create unique surfaces with a specific
alone. Once the container hits land, it must be picked up at
set of features and benefits. These materials are manufactured
port and trucked to a warehouse for further distribution. And
in large global factories using a combination of chemical
guess what? Domestic trucking costs have increased almost
curing agents and heat to create durable products that can
30% year over year. These costs have to either be absorbed
be loaded into containers and into trucks and shipped to
by the distributor or fabricator, or they’re passed along to
distributors across North America. From there, the slabs are
the consumer. Costs aside, consumers and professionals are International Surface Fabricators Association • Vol. 15 / Issue 1 • 15
