Yesterday I was on a sales call and the would-be customer was looking over the price list that I had given to him. He then commented on how extremely over-priced the bulk CAT5e wire was. I was surprised because I knew that we were practicaly giving the stuff away. As it turns out, he was still thinking of the prices of bulk wire 5 years ago. I had to think for a minute. Yeah, compared to the prices of 5 years ago, this was high!
As you might know, copper prices have sky rocketted over the past few years - as have other precious metals. Now bulk wire consists of mainly copper and PVC (plastic). Unfortuneately plastics and fuels have also gone up. What's more is fuel prices have gone through the roof, and 1,000 feet of wire is very heavy - adding more cost to the box of wire as it costs a fortune to tranport. Lastly as if all of these things weren't enough, the wire is made where? China. And what has happened to the US dollar? It's value has gone down - thus making goods purchased in China more expensive. So, YES! The wire is a lot more expensive than it was 5 years ago. And it doesn't show any signs of getting better. In fact right now, those who have stock have huge advantages over those who are getting a fresh supply in, because the stock in the warehouse was probably purchased at last year's costs. That new fresh stock was bought with all the new higher costs that I've just outlined. The point of this ranting is that your bulk wire costs are just going to keep going up for now.
If you are looking for a good price on bulk CAT6 wire, either plenum or PVC, you might want to contact Professional Cable in Orem, Utah. They have a large inventory of wire and a lot of it was purchased at last year's costs, so the full impact of the next round of price increases has not been felt. Professional Cable stocks solid core and stranded core wire as well as ready-made fully-molded patch cords in Red, Blue, Yellow, Grey... or is it Gray? Green, Pink, Purple, White, and Orange. See www.professionalcable.com
Now as you probably know, I am the president of Professional Cable, and therefore I am a little biased. But, I know the market, and I know that all of us cable manufacturers are feeling the pressures of the falling dollar, the high fuel costs (UPS keeps adding fuel surcharges that quietly erode already slim margins), and the ever-rising raw copper costs. Companies like us don't have the margins to shoulder the increases, so distributors, OEMs, and resellers feel the pain along with us. Eventually it makes its way down to the consumer and like every thing else that costs more money, the cables on the shelf cost more. The overall effect on the economy? Things are costing us more and more.
Well, that's the story on copper, and the problem that the factories are facing in China is that there just isn't enough supply. Who knew that back in my Econ class at BYU that I would actually have a painful realization one day of what that guy Adam Smith was talking about. Supply and demand. Hmmm. Seems like he was on to something. I think that he was so popular because he had an invisible hand or something.
To get a current bid on bulk wire, contact Professional Cable http://www.professionalcable.com/wire/bulkwire.html Go on! "Wire" you waiting? Find out if they can save you some money!
Until next time -
The Cable Guy
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