The growth of wood-plastic composite (WPC) decking in the UK is one of the big stories in garden products of recent years.

The product’s growth has been huge. Interviews conducted by TTJ with WPC manufacturers and suppliers find that WPC’s share of the new decking market is now most likely over 20% by volume, still considerably less than softwood but more than hardwood.

Suppliers have been rushed off their feet during the pandemic as people invest in their gardens, with 2021 set to enjoy further growth.

“People are at home and they can’t travel and can’t eat out,” said Andrew Caldwell, director of MBM Forest Products, which supplies TruDeck, made by NOVO-TECH in Germany.

“I don’t think you can underestimate how much disposable income that represents for an average family. The cost of having a nice space in the garden is similar to the cost of a family holiday. This year the industry is set for another very good year.”

It’s also been a good 12 months for leading US-manufactured brand Trex, supplied in the UK by Arbor Forest Products.

“We have seen a significant increase in demand for Trex composite decking,” said Trex business manager Jonathan Cooper.

“Demand from the UK domestic market has skyrocketed. With families across the UK largely restricted to their home, outdoor living space has been a key driver for the UK home improvement market. This has seen sales across all landscaping and outdoor consumer products hugely increase.”

This dramatic sales increase applied to Arbor’s traditional softwood Arbordeck timber decking and Trex.

Mr Cooper admitted assessing WPC’s decking market share was a difficult task but he said the value of Arbor’s Trex sales was now higher than its softwood decking sales.

“The composite decking market overall continues to grow and we anticipate this will also be the case through 2021. UK homeowners continue to invest in their homes. Decking and landscape contractors are reporting record bookings and with long lead times well into 2021, so particularly for domestic contractors, we do not anticipate a reduction in demand in the short-term.”

Felicity Hodgkinson, marketing manager of UK-manufactured Ecodek, noted that the significant shift in 2020 was to domestic sales, while commercial projects were on hold.

“While commercial projects are now definitely back, the B2C is still very buoyant,” she said.

“The pandemic had a positive impact on sales to the domestic market, as was seen across the landscaping and DIY sector,” she continued. “As manufacturers, we were in a very strong position as we were not relying on dwindling stocks to fulfil orders, we were manufacturing pretty much the whole way through.”

BSW Timber is a UK manufacturer of WPC via its Alvic Plastics business based in Telford.

“In the most extraordinary trading year, 2020 outperformed 2019 despite 90% of the merchant customer base closing for the Covid-19 lockdown in April,” it said.

“Sales of composite decking recovered strongly throughout May and remained well above 2019 order rates until the year end, buoyed by a furloughed British workforce enjoying the good weather and making the investment decision to improve their garden space at home.”

Charles Taylor, sales director at Composite Prime, estimated WPC market share in mainland Europe to be around 50%, with the product growing significantly in the US.

“I think we are at about 20% market share in the UK now and we expect that to grow over the next three to four years. I think softwood decking is still in the lead in terms of market sales, with it being more DIY, whereas composites are more specialist.”

He sees the market always having room for softwood but predicted hardwood decking’s volume decline to continue, with the latter mainly going into commercial applications.

Michael Stubbs and Roger Summer – UK technical and sales support for Germany’s NOVO-TECH GmbH – described NOVO-TECH’s 2020 sales as “phenomenal”.

“We found an upsurge in Europe and most companies in the UK have had the same,” said Mr Stubbs. “This year is showing all the signs of continuing that trend.

“The lower end of the composites market is fighting the top end of the softwood market and the real quality composites are chipping away at hardwoods.”

PRODUCT TRENDS

The WPC market has a diverse range of products, both hollow core and solid profile, many different colours and some with woodgrain effect for that authentic timber look.

Most feature a majority of wood flour content, combined with recycled or virgin plastic and binders manufactured in an extrusion process.

China, Germany and the US are the largest overseas suppliers to the UK, with BSW and Ecodek among UK manufacturers.

Demand for a capped product – an extra polymer surface layer – is increasing.

“More and more homeowners are seeking an improved quality of composite decking, and are looking for a solid-board capped product that offers an improved level of quality and performance,” said Mr Cooper.

“Capped boards offer stain, scratch and fade resistance. Product awareness amongst consumers and installers alike is rapidly increasing, as both become more wary of low-cost, poor-quality uncapped hollow core imports from China.”

There is a debate over solid profile versus hollow core and everyone has their preference but there are good products available in both types of construction. It is the low-quality products, typically some that originate from the Far East and which are sold direct to end-user, that have encountered problems in recent years with product failing.

Ecodek is introducing a new capped composite range this year.

BSW Timber said WPC decking standards were improving and the market was trending towards next generation capped products, which also feature high levels of UV fade resistance and stain resistance. In 2021, BSW is poised to grow its share of the composite decking market further with the new Alchemy range of next generation domestic and commercial composite decking.

NOVO-TECH, which makes the Megawood and EasyDeck brands, has had a busy innovation season, says Mr Stubbs.

New is the Megawood DELTA board, which used recycled wind turbine blades in its composition (still with a majority wood flour content) in a 21 x 145mm size.

Contours on the boards give it a crosswise surface structure, allowing the board to be laid without any gradient. Water runs off cross-wise into the deck gaps. NOVO-TECH also has an updated VARIO FIX installation system, while Mr Stubbs said he was working on expanding the focus to cladding and fencing solutions with the company’s UK distributors.

NOVO-TECH also recently achieved Cradle to Cradle Gold Certification for its German Compact Composite material used in deck boards in the category’s recyclability, renewable energies, CO2 management, water management and social fairness.

Arbor says new products, colours and finishes along with new competitors are increasing each month.

It says consumers and decking contractors were becoming more aware of warrantybacked reputable products (Trex offers a 25-year warranty).

“As a result, we have seen the number of installers applying to our TrexPRO Approved Contractor Scheme dramatically increase in recent months,” said Mr Cooper.

Contractors are increasingly offering full packages to homeowners – Arbordeck has launched its ArborJoist Plastic Sub-frame systems, ArborPad Pedestals, ArborRail Glass and Aluminium Railing Systems, with more products already planned for 2022.

MBM has recruited a new dedicated person to head up its composites business (starting in April), with an aim to have a big push on the product line in 2021 to its merchant customer base.

“We believe we have a very good product – it’s Germany’s number one selling composite decking product,” said Mr Caldwell. “We have committed to a significant stock holding to back this initiative. We have also invested in our Tilbury operation so we have our own operations team at the port.”

MBM’s TruDeck range currently consists of two colours (Silver Ash and Woodland Brown) in 16mm x 193mm solid profile boards in 3m and 4m lengths.

MBM will promote the ‘made in Germany’ credentials of TruDeck – the manufacturer NOVO-TECH is known for its popular Megawood brand.

MBM is looking at providing deck frame packages to supplement its WPC decking sales to help aid correct specification of decking and the correct treatment for end use.

LOGISTICS AND THE FUTURE

Composite Prime’s Charles Taylor said shipping and container costs had proved a challenge in 2020, quoting a six-fold increases in container costs.

“Luckily, because of the volumes we do we’ve been able to get the space,” he said, adding that significant stocks were on the ground in the UK.

He believes softwood timber joists shortages may be an issue for the market this year. Arbor said the unprecedented demand had led to an increase in lead times. “But we anticipate that with frequent shipments from the US, and ongoing regular customer communication and dialogue we will be able to work through this unprecedented demand,” said Mr Cooper.

He said container restrictions and the huge freight cost increases would put many of the small start-up low-cost importers supplying direct to installers and end-users under pressure.

BSW said uncertainty over product availability from some foreign countries due to Covid-19 delays and Brexit complexity, meant its UK manufactured and stocked Alchemy decking was an attractive option for merchants.

In terms of the future, a greater focus on WPC’s environmental credentials (using recycled plastic and wood by-product) is expected in line with the general higher awareness on sustainability.

To that end, NOVO-TECH is embarking on a product leasing programme in Germany, where consumers can lease decking and then in the future have it recycled by the factory via collection points when they want a new product option.

“Things like this are coming down the track big time. It’s faster in other parts of Europe than the UK but it is coming,” said Mr Stubbs. “Consumers are becoming far more aware now of products and their sustainability.”

Overall, 2021 looks set to be another buoyant year for composites, with people continuing to invest in their garden spaces and a greater focus on WPC for fencing and cladding applications.

The end of the government’s furlough scheme in September is probably the big unknown on the horizon with the potential to reduce household spending.