PVC Conduit and Fittings Cost Lately

[solarken]

Anyone else feeling sticker shock at the cost of PVC conduit and fittings lately? Is this a temporary spike or the new normal?

 

[infinity]

My guess is that it's the new norm. There is little to no incentive to lower prices so companies that jacked everything up during and after covid due to supply issues won't lower prices very much. If someone flooded the market with cheap Chinese PVC then you would likely see domestic producers reduce their prices.

 

[electrofelon]

My guess is that it's the new norm. There is little to no incentive to lower prices so companies that jacked everything up during and after covid due to supply issues won't lower prices very much.

I hear this a lot and I am a bit skeptical. There are multiple producers of PVC, so I think they would be subject to market forces and thus market pricing. Unless they are colluding, I don't think they could keep prices artificially high.

 

[AC\DC]

Your dollar is just worth that much less. Every one blames the evil corps. How about the biggest corporations the federal government there stealing your wealth

 

[electrofelon]

Your dollar is just worth that much less. Every one blames the evil corps. How about the biggest corporations the federal government there stealing your wealth

I am certainly not an economist, but I would say the inflation is mostly due to the massive amount of money both parties of our government handed out during the pandemic. This may have prevented worse outcomes like a bad recession, but I'm sure that will be debated for decades.

 

[farmantenna]

where have you been the last few years? this is old news

 

[electrofelon]

where have you been the last few years? this is old news

That's what I was going to say. Although it does seem like it's gone back up a little. Big Orange says like 21 bucks for a stick of 2-in, I thought I recall it being down to like 18 last I checked.

 

[wwhitney]

I am certainly not an economist, but I would say the inflation is mostly due to the massive amount of money both parties of our government handed out during the pandemic.

Mostly? No. Partially? Probably.

Inflation was primarily due to the pandemic's economic disruption, and was a worldwide phenomenon. I expect that countries that had little or no fiscal stimulus still had a fair amount of inflation, while having significantly greater unemployment. However, I don't have a reference, and I would be interested in a proper comparison.

Cheers, Wayne

 

[wwhitney]

However, I don't have a reference, and I would be interested in a proper comparison.

A friend pointed me towards this information: https://wapo.st/4hPTJmw

In particular, the scatterplot below shows no correlation between "Non-health stimulus as a percentage of GDP" and "Inflation between 2020 and 2023".

Cheers, Wayne