According to data from the Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, the average material cost of the entire department is 23.5% higher than in August 2020. That was higher than the figure reported in July when material costs rose by about 20% year-on-year.
During this period, the prices of steel and wood both soared. The price of imported sawn or planed wood was 74% higher than in August 2020, and the stainless price jumped 74.8% in the same period.
Wood has always been one of the materials that people face. The most serious shortage and price increase. Compared with July, China’s stainless prices soared by 8.9%, while stainless steel prices were 5.3% higher than the previous month.
Alasdair Reisner, chief executive of the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA), told Construction News that the construction market and the infrastructure market “are facing challenges in terms of logistics, material supply, and cost pressures.”
He added: “CECA is actively working with the UK government, the Building Leadership Council and other industry stakeholders to identify key points in the supply of materials and skills and, where possible, to reduce these pressures on our members.”
Consultants predict that material shortages will increase bid prices for new projects. The latest market intelligence report released by Turner and Townsend last month showed that by the end of this year, bid prices for certain types of work may be 10% higher than at the end of 2020.
Last month, the Construction Leadership Council warned that the lack of HGV drivers is the industry’s “most common and most pressing concern”, which has exacerbated the shortage of bagged cement, concrete roof tiles, and bricks.