December 07, 2022
Hope for change in building supply market
Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark hopes an underwhelming Commerce Commission market study on building supplies will be enough to get some competition into the sector.
It was the third such commission study, after damp squibs on the supermarket and fuel sectors failed to generate the kind of tough action the Government was hoping for.
It identified problems with a regulatory system which favours familiar brands such as Gib plasterboard, and a rebate system which discourages retailers from offering competing products.
In advance of yesterday’s release, Fletcher Building’s Winstone Wallboards subsidiary announced it was scrapping rebates.
Dr Clark says it’s a good start.
“In the building supplies area there are a number of areas where there are concentrated markets. Each player in the market is examining their own conduct. That’s what we hoping will happen and it’s actually really encouraging to see this change happening so quickly,” he says.
Maori housing advocates have been hoping for change in the sector, with supply chain issues affecting the price and pace of what has become an ambitious building programme.