2023 Price and Lead Times are Back in Check

If you looked at using a metal building system in 2021 and the pricing and lead time didn’t work for you, it’s time to reconsider.

The metal building industry got hit early and hard by the COVID lockdowns. Pricing rose, and lead times ballooned fast. Lead times were as long as 52 weeks for some projects. Designers and building owners utilized different construction methods to construct new facilities. Or in some scenarios, building projects went on hold because financing didn’t work out.

But as we start 2023, the landscape looks different. Pricing has come down. It is not at pre-Covid levels, but what is? Lead times with some manufacturers have returned to what they were pre-Covid. We can now get simple buildings in as quickly as six weeks! And the majority of our buildings will deliver in 12-16 weeks.

What is driving this change?

Manufacturers are catching up on their backlog. Demand was high when plants re-opened, and the world returned to business after the COVID lockdowns. Manufacturers received a lot of building orders in a short time, leading to long lead times and rising prices. Almost three years later, manufacturers have caught up.

Demand has also slowed. If demand remained high, manufacturers would not have been able to catch up. But as the economy has cooled, the number of building orders has decreased.

Lead times have come back in check. And as we learn in basic economics classes, prices fall as demand decreases in relation to supply. If you looked at using a metal building system a year ago and it didn’t make sense – reconsider. Metal building systems are still the fastest and most cost-effective construction method for 1 to 2-story buildings.