Adam Jackson

Well, basically, this is a new category within our business that we've embarked upon, producing PVC drainage pipe.

Sorry.

Well, the last six years have been strange timing, to be fair.

We've had COVID where we couldn't really operate.

Then we came out of COVID and we were so busy that we couldn't keep up.

And then we've really had a major construction slowdown the last couple of years.

We just started seeing, you know, the famous green shoots.

And now we've got a really complicated environment where we're

sourcing and pricing of oil derivative, petroleum-based products is complicating our operation.

So the timing is interesting, but you never know what's going to happen.

You have to have a strategy that you stick to.

And this is a very long-term plan.

It's not a short-term position.

Ultimately, within the pipe and fittings that we manufacture, the New Zealand Australian standard requires that 80% of the product, the material essentially, is PVC.

So PVC is a resin which is typically produced in Asia or the US, and it's derived from oil, from ethylene.

So particularly through Asia at the moment, there's some manufacturing constraints and some challenges, and it ultimately is affecting the price.

Typically in our business, it all comes out of Asia, but our suppliers now are scrambling to find the resin available

wherever they can.

This sort of war in the Middle East or Iran is really causing some problems, not only with fuel supply, but also all the derivative products that essentially go into the plastic products, not only through plumbing and construction, but the entire sort of economy that we know.

It's particularly plastic products and in particular PVC.