SYRACUSE, N.Y.—Insane.

That’s the word that manufacturers of maple equipment and supplies are describing the marketplace as they try to keep up with orders with wildly fluctuating input costs.

 

Steve Caccamo, president of Next Generation Maple Products of East Syracuse, N.Y. shared with The Maple News just how crazy things have gotten.

 

Stainless steel, the most critical input for any equipment manufacturer in the maple industry, has seen dramatic shifts in pricing and availability over the past six months, Caccamo said.  

 

Nearly quadrupled.

For example, 4x10 sheets of 20 gauge stainless that was selling for $198 last year jumped to $715 per sheet on Oct. 13, Caccamo said.  

 

Prices have since settled to $398 as of early January, but still double the price of last year.

“Some of our equipment has 40 different components and everything has doubled,” he said.  “It’s brutal.”

Square metal tubing that he uses for the frame of his hobby sized R/O units used to be 98 cents per foot.  Now it’s $1.98, he said.

And it’s not just the pricing increases, it’s also the availability.

Take pressure gauges, used for his R/O units.

“I need 50 and they give you 5,” he told The Maple News.  “It’s like that with every component.”

He said he will call around to 4 or 5 different vendors trying to find stainless steel.

“It used to be a quote would be good for 30 days, now it’s 24 hours,” he said.

Sugarmakers are being advised they should expect shortages and delays from here on out in both equipment and supplies, as the economy is upended by Covid.

“ASAP business is going to be very difficult,” said Jeff Smith, president of Leader Evaporator Co. 

Smith said the whipsaw effect of the current Omicron surge in Covid will disrupt manufacturing and inputs even worse than before.

“I would tell sugarmakers to buy early because prices are going to go up and availability is going to get worse,” he said.

Anyone looking to buy equipment for the 2023 season should get their orders in.

“The tail on the supply chain issues is gonna continue to get longer,” Smith said.  “Best thing for a producer is to make a commitment and buy early.”