From Chicken Wings To Mother’s Day Flowers, Here Are The Shortages You Need To Know About—Plus A Few Gluts

The coronavirus pandemic has snarled global supply chains and scrambled supply and demand forecasting for manufacturers across all sorts of industries, from electronics to lumber to poultry. Factory closures, shipping delays, and logistics challenges, coupled with major changes in consumption patterns thanks to lockdowns, capacity and travel restrictions and fear, have created a series of shortages and gluts in the global economy. In many cases mismatches of supply and demand have driven up prices, sparking inflation fears. 

Here’s what we’re short on. 

Semiconductors 

The essential computer chips used in a broad swath of electronic devices from cars to smartphones have been scarce for months thanks to supply chain issues caused by the pandemic. First, factory shutdowns in Asia delayed production of the chips. Then, a huge pandemic-induced surge in consumer demand for electronics was more than the chipmakers could handle. 

The effects of the shortage are bleeding into other industries: some North American automakers have been forced to slow or halt production because they don’t have the chips they need. And the industry isn’t out of the woods yet: “The semiconductor shortage and the impact to production will get worse before it gets better,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said during an earnings call last month.

Chicken 

Consumer demand for chicken during the pandemic and supply chain pressures have sent poultry prices soaring this spring. Suppliers are struggling to hire enough workers, and the “chicken sandwich wars” between fast food restaurants have also sent demand soaring. Now, national restaurant chains like KFC, Bojangles and Buffalo Wild Wings, as well as independent bars and restaurants are all struggling to meet demand for wings and other chicken products. 

Lumber

The lumber supply chain is showing cracks under the weight of production slowdowns in the early days of the pandemic, a homebuilding boom in the United States and a pine beetle infestation in Canadian forests. Prices have tripled since early 2020 and are still rising. New homes cost nearly $36,000 more on average as a result, according to an analysis by the National Association of Home Builders.

Homebuilders

Demand for new homes is booming, but the supply of skilled builders is lagging behind, the Wall Street Journal reported last month. There are far fewer builders operating now in the United States than there were before the housing bubble burst in 2008, and according to the Journal, the shortage means that soaring home prices aren’t likely to fall any time soon. 

 Single serve ketchup packets

As in-restaurant diners turned to take-out during lockdowns last year, individual ketchup packets became a hot commodity. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that restaurants are scrambling to stock up amid a national shortage of single-serving versions of the condiment. 

But it’s not all bad news: Kraft Heinz U.S. Zone president Carlos Abrams-Rivera told Yahoo Finance that he expects the company to be “fully supplied” to meet demand this summer after hiring more workers in its factories.

Used cars 

Production slowdowns (some caused by that severe semiconductor shortage) have contributed to a shortage of new vehicles. That shortage, combined with pandemic-driven changes to consumer habits (for example, mass transit use fell dramatically) mean that consumers are clamoring for used cars, too. Prices for used vehicles at wholesale auctions were up 52% in mid-April from the same time a year ago, according to data from Cox Automotive. 

The shortage even extends to the rental car market: companies like Hertz and Enterprise are buying up used vehicles since the supply of the new cars they usually purchase is so low. 

Nurses

The demands put on the healthcare system and frontline healthcare workers during the Covid-19 crisis are exacerbating what was already a looming shortage of registered nurses. In addition to high levels of stress and burnout in the early days of the pandemic, U.S. nurses were forced to grapple with shortages of vital personal protective equipment. According to a KFF/Washington Post survey released last month, 27% of nurses and doctors have considered leaving healthcare as a result of the pandemic. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing says the longer term shortage is the result of retirements by the aging nursing workforce, combined with a growing demand for nursing as the Baby Boomers require more care.

Babies

Data released last month by the U.S. Census Bureau showed that the United States’ population is growing at the slowest rate since the Great Depression thanks to the longer-term trends of lower fertility rates, lower immigration rates and an aging population that pre-date the pandemic. But data released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that the birth rate in 2020 dropped further to a record low, though the agency did not directly attribute the decline to the pandemic. 

Pipette tips

Scientists and researchers across the country are grappling with a shortage of pipette tips—a tiny piece of lab equipment that’s essential for a huge variety of medical tests and research experiments—according to a recent report by Stat News. The shortage is due in part to a surge in demand caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Stat reported, but it’s been worsened by production slowdowns caused by the recent winter storms in Texas and a fire at a manufacturing plant. 

Flowers

Farmers planted fewer flowers last year after a season of dramatically reduced demand during the early days of the pandemic, but now demand is roaring back and flowers are in short supply thanks to cold weather, shortages of workers in some places and other supply chain issues. That means a Mother’s Day bouquet might be more expensive this year, though of course there are plenty of other Mother’s Day gifts that aren’t subject to the same supply constraints. 

Boba tea

Boba tea—a popular drink often featuring pearls of chewy tapioca that originated in Taiwan—might be hard to find this summer. NPR reported last month that issues with shipping and logistics in American ports are contributing to a global shortage of the pearls. 

Truck drivers

A shortage of qualified fuel truck drivers—many of whom left the industry when the country shut down at the beginning of the pandemic—has worsened as the economy reopens and Americans begin to travel again. Some have suggested that the shortage could spell trouble for gas stations this summer, since the scarcity of truck drivers means that fuel might be delayed in reaching its final destination. 

Chlorine 

Stay-at-home orders and travel restrictions have many Americans turning their eyes to their own backyards for fun this summer. Booming demand for swimming pools during the pandemic—plus a major fire at a plant in Louisiana last year—means that chlorine, the essential chemical for keeping pools clean and safe, is in short supply, CNBC reported. 

But not everything is in short supply. Here’s what we have too much of. 

Toilet paper

A scramble for toilet paper and other household essentials during the early days of the pandemic last spring left shelves bare as Americans stocked up. Many continued to stock up as lockdowns wore on, and those stockpiles still remain even though lockdowns are easing, the economy is reopening and life is in many ways returning to normal. 

Hand sanitizer 

Bottles of hand sanitizer were also in short supply last spring as consumers, prompting manufacturers to ramp up production and spurring producers in other industries to launch their own products. But as the pandemic abates, demand has slowed significantly and companies like CVS are even beginning to donate their excess supply, USA Today reported last month.

Nursing home beds 

The pandemic has also prompted many American families to reconsider putting their loved ones in nursing homes, which were the center of so many deadly outbreaks of Covid-19 last year. As of February, the occupancy rate for skilled nursing facilities was 71%—nearly 14% percent below its pre-pandemic levels, according to data published by the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC). The occupancy rate for senior housing (that includes both assisted and independent living properties) fell to 78.8% in the first quarter, the lowest level since the NIC began reporting data in 2005, the group says. Meanwhile, a new NORC study shows Americans want the government to help them age at home. 

Office space

Whether or not the work-from-home era is here to stay, demand for office space has shrunk over the past year. The office vacancy rate in Manhattan now stands at 16.3%, its highest level since 1994, according to real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield. That’s good news for companies looking to rent: landlords are slashing prices to remain competitive

Realtors

While homes and home builders are in short supply, realtors are not. A recent working paper by economists Sonia Gilbukh and Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham found that the inexperienced agents who flood the market during housing booms have a lower probability of making a successful sale.