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Materials scarce, says CLC

27 August 2021

Materials scarce, says CLC

The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has given its latest update on product availability, highlighting the ongoing challenges that contractors face sourcing building materials. 

John Newcomb, CEO of the Builders Merchants Federation and Peter Caplehorn, CEO of the Construction Products Association, who are co-chairs of the CLC’s Product Availability working group, say that although the overall supply situation has not changed substantially, there has been a temporary easing this month, most likely due to the holiday period and homeowners cancelling projects due to higher costs or cost uncertainty. 

This echoes Wednesday’s blog post about the contractor who has postponed jobs worth £4 million in total because of rising costs.

Timber, cement, roofing products, bricks, blocks, insulation, steel and cable management systems remain the products in shortest supply, says the CLC, while global shortages of semi-conductors are a cause for concern in the lighting and appliance sectors. 

“Although product and material price inflation has slowed, indications are that it will be 2022 before prices stabilise, with some manufacturers still set to implement double digit price increases to recover current and future cost inflation,” the statement says.

“Haulage, however, and the lack of availability of drivers, are now the major concerns affecting distribution with some suppliers asking builders merchants to collect their orders as they cannot get enough drivers to complete deliveries.”

The CLC also points out that global container shipping disruption continues to affect imports. 

Photo: Mabel Amber/Pixabay

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