For metal building contractors and erectors, 2021 was a roller coaster ride with steel prices in total flux rising to all time highs and decreasing to all time lows. Paul Deffenbaugh, editorial director of Metal Construction News (MCN), comments, ” Price, availability and demand for construction materials all fluctuated widely in 2021, but despite that, the top metal builders report increases in the average tonnage and square footage. In fact, by all measures, 2021 was a very strong year for the metal building industry when looking at the largest contractors.”
Last year, MCN began the process of separating contractors from erectors. This year, contractors and erectors were asked to identify their market so two lists were compiled: the 100 largest metal building contractors ranked by tonnage and square footage and the 20 largest metal building erectors by tonnage and square footage.*
Top 100 Contractors Ranked by Tonnage: www.metalconstructionnews.com/media/MCN-Images/2022-Contractor-Tonnage-REV.pdf
Top 100 Contractors Ranked by Square Footage: www.metalconstructionnews.com/media/MCN-Images/2022-Contractor-SqFootage.pdf
Top 20 Erectors Ranked by Tonnage: www.metalconstructionnews.com/media/MCN-Images/2022-Erector-Tonnage-REV.pdf
Top 20 Erectors Ranked by Square Footage: www.metalconstructionnews.com/media/MCN-Images/2022-Erector-SqFootage.pdf
* There are a number of contractors in the industry who both self-perform and erect only for other companies. They are, by these awkward definitions, both contractors and erectors.
The report also recorded the biggest challenges the industry faced compared to last year. In 2020, general COVID issues (30.1%) and COVID work requirements (10.3%) were the most significant with the availability of labor to be a pressing issue with about a quarter of respondents saying it was hard to find skilled labor. This year’s report saw a wholesale shift in the kind of challenges contractors and erectors faced. Yes, the labor shortage still loomed large with a steady quarter of respondents saying it was a major challenge but problems with material shortages increased with 5.1% of respondents saying it was a challenge in 2020, while 8.7% pointed to it as a challenge in 2021. The most significant changes came in the areas of supply chain issues and scheduling.
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