Chain Link Fence Manufacturers Release Industry Forecast

(Newswire.net — May 29, 2015) Columbia, MD — May 29, 2015) Columbia, Maryland – The Chain Link Fence Manufacturers Institute (CLFMI) has issued its market forecasts for the coming year and predicts a continued increase in high security chain link fencing projects.

 

At the same time it was announced that Institute has authorized funding to continue its three-year old study of industry trends that produced these projections. The study was undertaken originally to expand the industry’s trend information and will now allow for more in-depth analysis of the historical data by CLFMI’s renowned chief economist, Dr. Lynn Reaser.

 

Dr. Reaser is the former Chief Economist for Bank of America and is currently the head of the Fermanian Business and Economic Institute at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. Dr. Reaser also serves as the Chief Economist of the Council of Economic Advisors for California State Treasurer John Chiang.

 

According to the report, in 2014 both the residential and commercial markets continued to rebound. CLFMI believes that one of the keys to the increase in commercial and high-security projects was the availability of information on which fencing systems performed best in various intrusion tests (http://tinyurl.com/ome2hla) and the guidelines for proper specification and installation of the projects (http://tinyurl.com/mut9dfo).

 

There are a number of factors the industry is watching carefully in 2015. 

 

• Public projects should be coming into line as federal works move forward. Some of the political changes during the mid-year elections might also lead to an increase in state infrastructure investment. The trend in architectural billings has been upward for a few years in a row so some of that work will be coming up by year’s end in 2015. 
• Steel prices are always a major factor in chain link production and sales. While any rise in steel prices is seen as being fairly small, even a slight rise can impact the inflow of imported chain link products into the U.S. market. CLFMI will be monitoring these issues very closely.

CLFMI’s newly elected President, Greg Jendreas of Bergandi Machinery, sees this year as a window of opportunity for chain link manufacturers to work with and assist their partners in the industry.

 

“Now is the time to really inform the public about the value and versatility of chain link products, and to help architects, engineers, and construction specifiers identify and effectively use the right systems for their clients” Jendreas told the CLFMI members during a presentation at FenceTech 15 in Orlando. “Consumers are buying again but they are still extremely cautious about cost. Chain link, especially the newer, stronger, and more aesthetically advanced products and systems, should be one of their options on virtually any fencing-related project.”

 

In other CLFMI news, CLFMI’s 2014-2015 Design Award went to a really unique public space project, The Ghost House, on Randall’s Island, New York. To see that project go to http://chainlinkinfo.org/clfmi-award-and-information/). CLFMI also awarded a 2014 Hire a Hero Award to Precision Fence Company in West Fargo, North Dakota. Precision owner Duane Ohm has instituted a veterans hiring practice in his company and has developed a veterans link/page on his firm’s website http://www.precision-fence.com/#!veterans/c6ek