All housing construction is saddled with the major past manufacturing companies having exported their businesses overseas to China and China now playing hard ball with the supply of those same goods to the market place.
In Australia, the housing sector is going gang busters because the manufacturing/extrusion of windows frames etc are still being extruded in Australia, with the extrusion plants never being busier than during the pandemic. Companies that imported extruded Al sections from China with a footpath guarantee of quality after first paying for the goods before they were loaded onto ships to be exported because of the cheaper cost, have returned to the Australian market place for AL extruded sections.
The "Do not put your eggs in one basket," wisdom is now coming back to haunt many business today.
Well...I know that the seals are cut out of a single sheet...
The frames I know nothing about.
But all I know is that there's a ton of houses just shelled and dormant. But we can make window frames if that's the issue. We can make them out of hard rubber silicone and vinyl if need be. Quick as a wink. Double pane for houses and triple for real insulating abilities of fridges and freezers.
But...there's probably more going on...wiring is usually made in china. And china hasn't been buying much in the way of copper...not enough for an increase in production like what is necessary to supply demand.
And the copper market is sky high right now. (For ore and recyclers) which usually means that air handlers are also expensive and having issues.
Copper wire, air conditioning, plumbing and etc...looking for them and it's not happening.
Plastics, for us, come from Canada...most of their crude oil makes quick and easy plastics and rubber. (Refinery time is more precious than the oil they refine) Mexico and South America makes gasoline. Texas makes Diesel. Middle Eastern oil makes motor oil.
Aussies use propane so much because it's more plentiful than gasoline...but from what I have heard many automobiles can use either. Petrol for long trips but propane for puttering around town.
At either rate it makes sense...lots of LNG in the area. So much that they can turn it into stretch film that is so common here to wrap pallets of goods being shipped and meat in the grocery store.
But currently with oil..the high prices are a problem with supply. We need more wells and production. We can either be at OPEC's mercy or continue to drill and find more. There's plenty out there...but it needs to be found. Also the existing wells need to be used. And local rigs employed...USA lost two and Canada gained two...more oils exists off the African coast and South America coast...but they need to be drilled, spudded and pumped.
Then...OPEC meetings won't control the world. Influence is all. Iran lost most of theirs to a lack of maintenance and resulting fire...they are out for a while...at least a year or more. (Nuclear program was really expensive) Iraq is still problematic. Russia still can't get theirs to market. Which leaves Saudis, Venezuela, Ethiopia, Mexico and I'm forgetting someone. (Northern Africa isn't producing like they were)
But there is plenty around...just gotta get it.