Timber and steel are among key construction materials which saw another price drop in January.
The price of imported sawn or planed wood fell by 9.3 per cent in comparison to December, marking four consecutive months of price drops for the material.
Imported plywood prices were also down by 5.5 per cent as the industry saw prices drop nearly across the board.
Despite the recent dip, material prices remain significantly up in comparison to a year ago, with imported sawn or planed wood still 30.5 per cent more expensive than in January 2021. Plywood prices remain 25.3 per cent higher as well, compared with 12 months ago.
Steel prices also continued to fall, again for the fourth month running. Fabricated structural steel prices were 0.5 per cent lower than they were in December, though the material is still 51.0 per cent higher than it was a year ago.
UK Steel director general Gareth Stace said steelmakers were still facing “almost historic levels of inflation” of costs linked to energy, raw materials and transport.
“UK producers have tried to absorb these increases as much as possible, and the data from BEIS suggests that a temporary reprieve from rising energy and material cost has been passed on to consumers,” he added. “Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that this will continue as upward pressure on energy and materials prices continue unabated.”
Rigid plastic pipes fell too, by 1.1 per cent.
Cement prices, though, continue to climb steadily as they have done since August 2021. The material price went up by 0.9 per cent in the month to January and now costs 5.6 per cent more than it did in January 2021.
Though some material prices have begun to fall, consultancy Linesight warned last month that material prices will continue to stay high this year.
High industry demand for materials and widespread distribution problems are set to affect the sector over the course of 2022, with steel prices affected in particular by increasing energy costs.
High demand will also keep timber high over the course of the year, the consultancy said.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine could also have an impact on materials prices, according to analysts who said this week that the main impact would be the from the expected spike in oil and gas prices.
This article was posted on constructionnews.co.uk
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