We are experiencing unavoidable delays on many DoorCo Slabs.

In part, this is a ‘knock on’ effect of the recent blockage in the Suez Canal, coupled with high demand within the industry. Please rest assured we are doing all we can to rectify matters, but this is totally beyond our control.

 

February: Delays to UK ports

 

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Below is a message from the DoorCo MD to all its fabricators; we hope it will go some way to illustrate the difficulties any UK importer faces in the current climate.

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Stock Arrivals and Increased Costs

Dear Customer,

DOORCO continues to face significant issues with both delays to stock, and further cost increases on raw materials and transport.

Booking shipping slots on container vessels is proving to be a daily challenge, and the latest development is payment at point of securing booking, this means money tied up months before the vessel is due to ship to ensure continuity of supply. Our latest shipments were cancelled, and we had to significantly re-plan for these to be transported by sea from South Korea to Russia, and train from Russia to UK with the route taking 35/38 days and costing an additional 10% more than the already increased shipment costs.

Unfortunately, the situation is showing no signs of improvement. Increases to costs continue to occur, sea freight is now as high as $16,000 per container, and raw material costs have increased by 30% from 1st April 2021. These figures are on top of the increases we received in January, February and March. To secure raw materials, the same tactic is being used as the shipping companies; payment being required at placement of order to secure materials, placing a huge strain on cashflow and finances.

Clearance of containers at UK ports continues to be a delayed process, goods taking up to 7 days to clear from landing at UK ports is commonplace, again resulting in increased charges to us the customer.

 

The future

The positive news is we continue to receive stock weekly, our buying is at the highest levels, our new products are on course for launch, we have expanded into a new building for extra storage, new equipment is on order and the first machines land early May. Above all, our commitment and resilience to working through these issues remains as strong as always.

I would like to thank you for your patience, support and understanding since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is greatly appreciated and has helped massively as we steer our way through these ever-changing issues.

Yours sincerely,
for DOORCO Ltd

Dan Sullivan

Managing Director

Stay updated

Please keep an eye on this Iceni Live page, facebook, instagram and twitter accounts for further updates.

Take care,

The Iceni Team