Hi everyone,

The past few months have continued to be challenging for us, our customers and in turn yours, as the intense spike in demand for plasterboard exceeded our ability to fully supply the industry in the short term.  Our focus has been on responding to this spike in demand through a number of different initiatives, with the primary aim being to return to the high levels of service you are used to. I’m pleased to let you know we’ve made some good inroads and we are confident the allocation model is having a positive impact.

To increase supply both our board plants continue to operate 24/7, and upgrades to our Auckland plant in July has resulted in a lift in capacity. We have also been able to recommence importing plasterboard from Australia which will be sold under the GIB® brand and covered by the relevant BRANZ appraisals. The combined effect of these initiatives mean we are currently despatching around 3.25million sqm of board per month.

I’d also like to acknowledge the steps many people across the industry have made to import board to meet demand and thereby increase supply across the industry.

Our allocation model has now been fully operational for over a month and we are working closely with merchants to improve its effectiveness. One aspect of the current system that we have found leads to a high number of order changes is the merchant lead time between order placement and delivery. From 1 October this merchant lead time will be reduced. We anticipate this will create greater flexibility right across the supply chain to secure product when it is needed for installation. 

From a demand perspective, there are some merchants seeking higher volumes than they have been allocated. However, we are getting indications that the gap between demand and supply is decreasing as tradespeople are pushing out or cancelling orders. We’d encourage tradespeople to continue to communicate with your merchant regarding your specific requirements and site plasterboard ready timings, as it ultimately helps us understand real demand levels. Knowing how much supply should come from stock in the supply chain versus manufacture/imports, is central in determining when we can safely exit the allocation process.

Looking forward, we are still on track to have saleable board from our new facility in Tauranga available in May next year. Our new plant will provide 30% more capacity which will allow us to meet foreseeable short and longer term demand. The new state-of-the-art plant will also have new technology capability to help us improve our sustainability credentials.

The team and I recognise the responsibility Winstone Wallboards has in supplying plasterboard to the New Zealand market and want to assure you we are committed to living up to that responsibility. That we have retained such a role is not just an outcome of what we do but, a result of the high level of support the market has provided us over decades. I want to thank you for working with us through these recent challenging times and very much look forward to resuming the level of service, quality, and innovation to which you have become accustomed.

David Thomas

General Manager

Winstone Wallboards