The latest Builders Merchants Building Index (BMBI) report, published in June, shows value sales by Britain’s builders’ merchants in April remained strong, driven in part by impressive timber and joinery product sales.
Total builders merchants value sales in April 2021 were exceptionally high compared to April 2020 (+419.2%). However, many merchants and construction sites were temporarily closed during April last year, so a more useful comparison is with April 2019. Over this period, total sales were up 22.1%. Landscaping (+63.3%) and timber and joinery products (+37.2%) led the field.
Total value sales in February to April 2021 were 72.4% higher than the same period in 2020, with one more trading day this year. Landscaping (+133.1%), timber and joinery products (+99.6%) and tools (+86.2%) were the top three categories. Compared to the same three months of 2019, total sales were up 15.6%, helped by two more trading days.
Compared with a record-breaking March, total builders merchants sales in April were slightly lower month-on-month (-0.9%), not helped by three fewer trading days. Only landscaping (+15.5%) and timber and joinery products (+0.4%) sold more.
April’s BMBI index was 150.6, the second highest ever recorded. Landscaping was strongest (257.0) followed by timber and joinery products (176.3).
Simon Woods, European sales, marketing and logistics director, West Fraser (formerly Norbord) and BMBI’s expert for wood-based panels, comments: “Over recent months, merchants and DIY stores have seen demand outstrip supply of most timber products, leaving a feeling of lost sales opportunities in most areas. Couple this with shortages of some of the key raw materials used in the manufacturing processes, and we are all in the middle of the perfect storm.
“Demand for all forms of timber products is at an all-time high – at least if pricing is anything to go by. The increase in demand has many facets. The move to wood as a carbon friendly resource, the drive towards home improvement and the swing towards larger new houses, are just some of the drivers of the increases we are experiencing.
“From a wood-based panel perspective the manufacturing sector is doing all it can to improve production by removing slower to produce products, increasing facility utilisation and reducing engineering downtime where possible. However, it is unlikely to be enough to fill the void and most commentators are suggesting that the current imbalance in supply and demand will last for the next 12 months or more.
“Particleboard is being affected on more than one front. The demand for general flooring PB is high, which is causing its own problems within the supply chain. However, the demand for kitchen, bedroom and bathroom (KBB) renovation is causing a much more severe situation. Almost all of the carcasses used in KBB are manufactured using particleboard and manufacturers are diverting volumes in that direction, to keep up with demand, exacerbating the issues on flooring PB in the process.
“2021 is shaping up to be a year of both optimism and frustration for all sectors of the timber market. But strong planning partnerships across the whole supply chain will help to smooth the choppy waters.”
For the latest reports, expert comments and round table debates, visit www.bmbi.co.uk
