Dallas area manufacturing data
- Prior was +14.6
- Six months ahead +28.6 vs +15.0
- Output +27.4 vs +18.3 prior
- New orders 19.6 vs 14.9 prior
- Shipments 24.3 vs 13.8 prior
- Inventories of finished goods +3.2 vs -11.1 prior
- Prices paid for raw materials 82.1 vs 76.3 prior
- Prices received +42.2 vs +49.8 prior
- Employment 28.5 vs 28.3 prior
The comments in this report are often revealing.
- Based on current data and information from suppliers, we have started to plan for much higher materials and logistics costs in the upcoming months.
- Importing continues to be a nightmare. Lead times from overseas are at a historical high due to slow shipping. Import freight costs are at a historical high.
- The main problem remains labor. We have over 70 openings with an employee head count at 1,150.
- COVID-19 wiped out my competition. Another guy tried to compete with my company, and he just went bankrupt. Between the government rules and the oil companies demanding more insurance and driving up costs, barriers to entry are such that we are the only supplier left in my business with inventory and an ability to take care of the customer. Therefore, we've raised prices and increased our response time to service our customers' needs.
- I do get a feeling from my suppliers that the supply chain is slowly getting better. In no way is it good, but I can at least get an approximate time frame of deliveries, which they would not give us earlier this year. They are always late, but at least they have a plan.