It shouldn't come as a surprise that the cost of most of the items we sell is heavily dependent on the cost of Aluminum and this year has been extremely rough for those buying aluminum.
During a 3 month period, from Dec 2021 to March 2022, the cost of raw aluminum rose over 50%. Even in the context of our current 9% annual inflation, a 50%+ increase in a 3 month period is jaw dropping.
The good news is, over the past few months, the cost of raw Aluminum has come down almost as quickly, dropping almost 50%. Although aluminum still remains far more expensive than it was just 2 years ago, the recent price drop should provide some relief in the future.
How this impacts you
There are a number of steps in refining and processing of Aluminum prior to becoming gutter coil, hangers or any other finished product. So although the cost of unfinished Aluminum is trending down, there is some lag time until it will impact the cost of finished aluminum products.
In fact, it seems that the peak pricing that occurred in March, is only being felt fully now, as our costs for finished aluminum is the highest it has ever been.
The good news is, that barring any further rises in the price of raw Aluminum, we should see the costs of finished aluminum coming down in a few months from now.