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usiness at PelRay International of San Antonio, TX, continues to grow from last year, reported President Bart Pelton. PelRay serves manufacturers of brooms, brushes and mops worldwide, providing supplies from more than 20 countries. “Some people are saying they are busy, and some are saying they are a little slow or up and down,” Pelton said. “Overall, business is running a little stronger than it was last year.” The company offers wood handles, of various species, and metal handles that are powder painted and plastic coated. PelRay also offers mop and brush hardware and mop yarns. Grown in the United States, poplar has traditionally been the primary hardwood PelRay supplies for handles. However, the higher price of domestic poplar compared to tauari, a hardwood sourced out of Brazil, has resulted in some changes in demand. As a result, Tauari is now the main hardwood the company is selling. “We are not selling as much poplar, but the Bart Pelton good news is the lead times are way down and we are filling orders on a timelier basis,” Pelton said. “The price
spread between poplar and imported hardwoods has increased. As a result, a lot of business has shifted to imported tauari over poplar because of the price difference. However, we still have customers who are
buying poplar because they like how it looks. It is a smooth, straight wood. In addition, some customers want something that is American made and American grown.
BBM MAGAZINE | September/October 2016
PelRay also offers handles made with domestic southern yellow pine, as well as imported pine from Honduras. “The pine market has been fairly stable,” Pelton said. “There is plenty of imported pine available. The supply of southern yellow pine has been a little tight, particularly on getting lumber to make the 1 1/8-inch diameters. It has been a lot better for the 15/16- and 7/8-inch diameters. We have been trying to find more sources and we have had some success, but we are not ready to say there is plenty of domestic southern yellow pine available. “In addition, we are also pleased to report that we can now supply SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative)-certified handles.” One of the issues Pelton is keeping a close eye on is freight costs. The recent bankruptcy filing by South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Co., one of the world’s largest container shipping companies, has caused some chaos in the shipping industry, as creditors have seized ships and terminal operators have refused to handle cargo, stranding Hanjin’s container ships loaded with appliances, electronics and other consumer goods, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal. According to the Journal, “Hanjin is currently the largest shipping company in (South) Korea, operating approximately 60 regular lines worldwide, with 140 container or bulk vessels, court papers said. It is ranked as the world’s ninth largest container shipping company, transporting over 100 million tons of cargo a year.”
“Freight rates have been very reasonable for the past year or so, but we are seeing some pickup in freight costs,” Pelton said. “I read that Hanjin handles about 3
percent of the world shipping market. Even before the bankruptcy, we saw some small increases on freight costs out of Brazil. Also, the
Brazilian real has been unusually strong against the
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