Dear Valued Customer,
We are writing to advise you of a temporary pricing measures S&A Stairs is introducing in response to significant recent increases in key input costs, particularly fuel, shipping, and certain imported or freight-exposed materials and to provide advance visibility of the framework S&A Stairs would apply if these costs were to worsen materially.
We have been building stock in key materials over the last year to provide supply certainty which also allows us to absorb some but not all of the cost volatility.
This is not a profit-taking exercise.
The approach we have taken is to challenge all supplier increase requests and have been
successful in reducing or rejecting a number of increases where they were not properly
justified.
At the same time, some cost pressures are legitimate, material, and outside our or our
supplier’s control. For these legitimate increases we are seeking to share equally through the supply chain so that 33% of the increase is taken by each the suppliers, ourselves and you the customer.
For that reason, S&A will apply a temporary variable levy effective from 1 st June, 2026 and to be reviewed weekly. This levy is currently set at 1.3% as at Thursday the 7th of May to all customer invoices. This levy is being introduced in response to current cost pressures, while the remaining 2.6% of current cost increases is being absorbed between S&A and our suppliers.
Importantly, any future increases to this levy would:
- Only apply if nominated cost thresholds are exceeded
- be linked to transparent external benchmarks and supplier cost schedules
- apply only for so long as those conditions remain in place
- reduce or be removed if the underlying cost drivers ease
The key supply chains currently exposed to these pressures include:
- Steel
- Glass
- Timber - sourced from Tasmania, though internationally shipped for lamination
- MDF - particularly the resin / urea input costs
To provide visibility, on the following page we have set out a levy matrix showing how a temporary levy would apply at various index points if market conditions deteriorate. We will make available on our website where we sit at any time on this matrix and the rate to be applied to any purchase orders.
International shipping levy matrix (Drewry Intra-Asia Container Index)
Current shipping index: USD$918/40ft
| Product Category | All Delivered Products |
|---|---|
| $550 - $650 | 0.0% |
| $650 - $750 | 0.3% |
| $750 - $850 | 0.6% |
| $850 - $950 | 0.9% |
| $950 - $1050 | 1.2% |
| $1050 - $1150 | 1.5% |
| $1150 - $1250 | 1.8% |
| $1250 - $1350 | 2.1% |
| $1350 - $1450 | 2.4% |
| $1450 - $1550 | 2.7% |
| $1550 - $1650 | 3.0% |
| $1650 - $1750 | 3.3% |
| $1750 - $1850 | 3.6% |
| $1850 - $1950 | 3.9% |
| $1950 - $2050 | 4.2% |
Fuel levy matrix (Tasmanian Regional Diesel Fuel Index)
Current diesel price: $2.57/L
| Delivered Category | All Delivered Products |
|---|---|
| Below $2.40/L | 0.0% |
| $2.40–$2.79/L | 0.4% |
| $2.80–$3.19/L | 0.8% |
| $3.20–$3.59/L | 1.2% |
| $3.60–$3.99/L | 1.6% |
| $4.00+/L | TBC |
* At fuel prices above $4.00/L, S&A may need to implement temporary staff travel assistance, which would be treated as part of the same temporary and transparent framework.
These matrices are intended to provide customers with visibility and reflect sharing the actual cost increases through all of the supply chain. S&A will communicate this in advance and apply the published framework only which as of Thursday May 7 th sits at 1.3% (0.9% from International Shipping plus 0.4% from Fuel).
We value your partnership and remain committed to managing cost volatility in a fair, transparent and responsible way.
Yours sincerely,
S&A Stairs