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Recent acquisitions by Builders FirstSource and US LBM led us to wonder: If you took all retail sales of building materials last year and then subtracted the purchases made at the three biggest home centers plus all the hardware and paint stores, how big a share of what's left do the top 5 LBM dealers have? The answer: About 50%. Even if you question our math and methods, it's hard to contest the notion that LBM is moving toward the kind of market concentration we've seen at builders and in many other industries. More

Katerra, the multi-billion-dollar company created to revolutionize construction, is closing, a source close to the company confirmed to Webb Analytics. In a sense, the news is no shock, as stories about managerial ineptitude and financial skullduggery have swirled about Katerra for years. The company's demise will likely lead to conflicting post-mortems about what ultimately killed the company and what it all means for the future of construction and construction supply. We spot three schools of thought already. More

... How about you? If you haven't yet, here's your opportunity to dive deep into what happened with most of America’s most important residential construction product dealers in 2020. Webb Analytics' Construction Supply 150 covers 150 LBM dealers, home centers, and hardware chains that collectively took in more than $312 billion last year. That's 82% of the retail sales made by all sellers of retail building products nationwide. Now it's available to you at no charge. Just click here, register, click the "submit" button, and look for the link to download the 40-page PDF.

In last month's lead article, Russ Taylor speculated about $2,000 W-SPF prices, Within days, it was a reality. Now hear Taylor talk about what's next at a webinar I'll be hosting on June 9. It'll differ from the usual price-centric events because we'll also have advice from Ruth Kellick-Grubbs on how to manage through all your challenges this summer. And for local perspective, we'll have C.R. Molitich of IMOC Building Supplies in Montana. It's all free, and it's sponsored by ECI. Click here to register.

Longtime Webb Analytics Report readers might recall this photo from our December 2019 newsletter about a Finnish company called Spinnova that found a way to convert wood pulp into fabric. To show what it can do, Spinnova combined its product with lyocell, another fabric created from wood cellulose, to produce the gown shown here, worn by Henna Virkkunen, a member of the European Parliament. Unlike many textiles, which often require harmful chemicals in their production, Spinnova claims its fiber is made without harmful chemicals.

Now Spinnova has announced it has teamed up with Suzano, a wood pulp producer, to invest 22 million Euros ($26.9 million) to build in Finland the first commercial-scale fiber production facility. The product is expected to be available at the end of 2022. It aims to produce 1 million tons of the product annually within 10 years.