The British Home Enhancement Trade Association, which has a membership of DIY, garden and housewares businesses with combined turnover of £5bn, said that the initial fencing supply problems caused by winter storms in turn created a timber shortage as manufacturers upped output to meet demand.
"This will now prolong the problems affecting fencing installers, consumers and DIY retail," said a BHETA member. "There’s little fencing suppliers can do to change things, until the timber market rebalances and more softwood can be made available."
BHETA home improvement sector director Peter Stone said that some members had reported "something very like a black market developing in fencing and consumers reporting panel thefts".
"The problem is likely to pose questions in the supply of other products like trellis and wooden garden buildings," he said.
Richard Bennett, sales and marketing manager at BHETA member Grange Fencing, said that stockists were also mainly ordering 6ft panels, rather than smaller sizes, "further limiting the number that can be produced".
"We’re talking to customers week by week to confirm what’s possible in order to ensure we get the most out of the timber available," he said.
Irish timber suppliers comments to TTJ this week supported the fence makers forecasts of continuing strong demand. They said they’d been "playing catch-up" to meet orders after the February storms produced the fencing sales surge.
One forecast that consumption could stay at raised levels for a year.
