{"id":103116,"date":"2021-12-21T14:59:25","date_gmt":"2021-12-21T14:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=103116"},"modified":"2022-02-06T19:32:01","modified_gmt":"2022-02-06T19:32:01","slug":"construction-in-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/plant-equipment-supplies-news\/construction-in-2022\/103116\/","title":{"rendered":"Material shortage and inflation will change construction in 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

Craig Sanders, joint managing director, Protrade<\/a>, analyses how the ongoing raw material shortages and price inflation are going to change UK construction in 2022, forcing the industry to be more efficient<\/h2>\n

Shortages and inflation. They are two words that worry any business owner dealing with products. Those two words crop up in the news from time to time, often a temporary issue that can be contained and dealt with before business resumes and normality sets back in.<\/p>\n

That hasn\u2019t been the case for the construction industry, though.<\/p>\n

Shortages of essential raw material products<\/a> and price inflation<\/a> have dominated the agenda in the sector for the entirety of 2021 and it will follow us into 2022.<\/p>\n

Speaking about Protrade specifically for a moment, these two ongoing factors have ripped up our traditional trading models and doubled our stockholding. We\u2019ve been more flexible than ever before, attempted to forecast further ahead, and have needed, at times, to put our money where our mouth is.<\/p>\n

The same will be true for multiple other businesses like ours up and down the country.<\/p>\n

And yet, the reality is that it isn\u2019t going to change. In this article, I explore why that\u2019s the case but also talk about why the answer to overcoming these shortages and price inflations lies in one word: efficiency<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The average 23% increase in raw material prices this year is just the start<\/h3>\n

Data from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy<\/a> (BEIS) during August 2021 showed us that the average cost of materials<\/a> across the construction sector was 23.5% higher than they were in August 2020.<\/p>\n

When I first read that, I was surprised – mainly because I thought that figure would be steeper.<\/p>\n

Only two months later, in October 2021, we received notification that silicone, which is contained in a lot of sealants, was due to go up 39% in price, following a 60% price hike we\u2019d seen earlier in the year. And while timber is not a product we sell, we\u2019re well informed that has increased three-fold, too.<\/p>\n

We also don\u2019t buy steel in its raw state, but we do buy fixings manufactured from it, and they have risen by at least 25%. Channel and bracketry used in steel building systems has rocketed up over 60% since January 2021 as well. These similar increases can be found in the value of polymers and monomers, which, again, has risen by more than 40%.<\/p>\n

I take the point that there are materials out there that haven\u2019t experienced this inflation. However, I would argue that if you looked at the basic raw materials, including steel, wood, and polyurethane, a 23.5% increase isn\u2019t a true reflection of where our industry stands going into 2022.<\/p>\n

There are a multitude of reasons why our industry is experiencing this flux right now.<\/p>\n

Demand and Brexit are easy issues to point the finger at. I\u2019m not ignoring the fact they have played a role, but there are factors to consider – some that, actually, have been totally out of our control. These include:<\/p>\n