Are Building Material Imports on the Rise?

When the housing boom happened back in 2004, the demand for building supplies rose drastically above the available quantity. Things like flooring, steel, and drywall quickly ran out, and construction companies began turning to overseas supplies to fill the void. What happened next was something unheard of. Chinese companies shipped millions of tons of drywall into the United States (mainly Florida), which were tainted with toxic chemicals. Those chemicals quickly made people sick and it became clear the drywall was the cause.

Despite the health risks, many companies still do import materials from overseas in order to cut costs, which is something that could be potentially dangerous for consumers. Furthermore, if the housing market continues to trend upward, it is likely that supply will once again fall below the demand, and there will be nowhere else to turn but to offshore companies to get the materials.

Now, we are not saying that all imported material is bad. Some of it is great, and there are a lot of good companies out there that want to do business at a high level and standard of quality. However, if you are a company considering importing merchandise, we suggest you read about the pros and cons of importing materials first.