The latest Builders Merchants Building Index (BMBI) report, published in April, shows value sales by Britain’s builders’ merchants in February were 2.3% higher than in February 2020, driven by strong growth in sales of timber and joinery products.
YEAR-ON-YEAR
Timber and joinery products was the strongest category in February with sales up 18.2% on February 2020, on an equal number of trading days. It remains significantly ahead of other product categories, having consistently performed above the total index since the start of the pandemic.
Sales in two other categories – landscaping (+8.6%) and tools (+2.0%) – increased year on year. However, indoor trades have been negatively impacted by a third lockdown, leading to lower sales in categories such as kitchens and bathrooms (-8.6%) and decorating (-8.4%).
LAST THREE MONTHS
Total sales in the last three months (December 2020 to February 2021) were 1.8% higher than in December 2019 to February 2020. Only timber and joinery products (+14.8%) and landscaping (+11.0%) sold more in the last three months.
MONTH-ON-MONTH
Total merchants’ February sales were 8.6% higher than in January, with no difference in trading days.
Landscaping did best with a 24.1% increase, followed by kitchens and bathrooms, decorating and tools. Timber and joinery products sales were up 7.3%.
INDEX
February’s BMBI index was 109.4, with timber and joinery products the highest at 128.8.
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