An Update on Building Product Availability & Pricing

Since the start of the pandemic there has been an ongoing challenge in the construction industry regarding building product availability and pricing. You don’t even need to be in the construction industry to have noticed this. Even our retail customers are getting frustrated by lack of certain building products, long lead times and rising prices.

For us at M&T Builders Merchants, this is a challenge we’re facing day in and day out. That said, because we’ve been in business since 1978, we’re fortunate to have a solid network of trusted suppliers and experts on whom we can call for ongoing market information and opinion. In this short news piece, we want to share with you some of the reasons for the ongoing issues with building product availability and the work we’re doing to maintain the highest standards of service and making sure key products are available for both our trade and retail customers.

The impact of rising energy costs

You’d need to have been hibernating or on a trip to the moon to be unaware of the issues surrounding rising energy costs. As homeowners, we’re only too aware of the impact that rising energy costs is going to have on our pockets this winter, but sometimes we forget the consequences for business. Whether it’s keeping the lights and heating on in a store or powering machines in a factory, virtually everything we consume is affected. Domestic and international products are also facing huge increases in transportation costs which are inevitably reflected in ‘on the shelf’ prices. Building product availability is obviously implied in the effects of this crisis.

The effect of inflation

Inflation in the UK is currently teetering around the 10% mark, and this means that prices, pretty much across the board, are rising. Irrespective of whether it’s the pasta you put on your plate or the bricks used to build your house, there are huge pressures to increase prices. Consumers – both trade and retail want prices to stay low, but everything in the economy is pointing in the opposite direction. Rising energy costs, the price of raw materials and scarcity of certain items mean that price reductions are unlikely to be on the agenda anytime soon. Again, this is having a huge impact on building product availability.

The supply and demand reality

Over the last few months, there have been industry-wide challenges meeting the demands for the likes of bricks, roof tiles and timber as well as potential issues with paint and coatings. The semi-conductor and electrical components market has also been impacted, with significant knock-on effects. Pretty much across the board, demand has outstripped supply and that, once again puts pressure on prices.

M&T Builders Merchants – working hard behind the scenes for you

At M&T we have been in business a long time and we have experienced market volatility before and managed to weather the storm for our customers. The challenge today is making sure we have the building materials you need, in store and online ready for delivery, at a price that is fair and reasonable.

We’re currently increasing our focus on online, which helps to keep in-store costs under control. It also helps us serve a bigger market, which means we gain more buying power when it comes to suppliers. We’re also buying forward and hedging our bets on future prices which is a smart way of us being able to make sure we have the building product availability you need in stock, and we’re not being held hostage by suppliers.

All of this means that we’re constantly working away behind the scenes with suppliers and industry experts to keep our finger on the pulse of the products you need and want. And the outcome of that? The outcome of that is that you can count on us to be here for you when some of the other builders’ merchants maybe can’t deliver. Check out our stocks and prices right now and you’ll see for yourself, or get in touch if you’d like reassurance about building product availability moving forward.