The prices of construction materials are rising due to material shortage which can impact your next home building project. What are the developments for the construction market?
Due to the strongly increasing energy and raw materials costs, the construction materials market and many European businesses are facing huge material shortages. Over the last months alone the inflation has increased by 10% to 15% on the prices of the basic materials like wood. Due to these price rises the cost of materials and impact on those that are working on house construction projects, renovation projects and new build projects suffer the most.
Materials that suffer
Construction materials varying from steel, cement, glass, synthetics and other energy-intensive products are expected to rise even more because of the global energy crisis.
During 2021 the construction materials shortage has led to a shortage of materials like timber, plastics, solar panels, heating systems causing major supply chain issues for companies that work on homebuilding and home improvement projects.
Since the start of the pandemic and later on the Ukraine war, the progress of improvement hasn’t really changed. Purchasers report that delivery times for main materials like roof insulation (Dutch: dakisolatie) are getting longer, materials getting harder to locate and prices fluctuate per month or even per week.
Energy prices
The pressure on the constructors of the materials for the construction market is getting higher by day due to the average energy bills that rise immensely. This is mainly visible in industries like concrete, steel and cement. The volatility on the energy prices are impacting the market in such a manner that certain manufacturers of mainly energy-intensive products are now warning of surcharges linked to energy costs.
Ukraine war
Due to the outbreak of the Ukrainian conflict, contractors are warning that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will lead to significant disruption to supply chains of the construction materials market. It can lead towards price jumps for a number of building materials like pir insulation plate materials (Dutch: pir platen met osb). The sector’s confidence has been boosted by some easing of supply chain issues so far this year, however the ongoing war in Ukraine is expected to put this in jeopardy. Thanks to the impact of this ongoing war and the sanctions on Russia, it will take time to materialize and as such, certain supply chains must swiftly pivot towards other sources for their construction materials.
Materials that are affected by the global crisis
Supply chain challenges are always there, but due to the covid and war in Ukraine a number of materials are affected by it such as bricks, roof tiles, steel lintels and certain sealants, coatings and paints. For example the steel market where Russia and Ukraine together are the second largest steel exporters in the world, are showing shortages in supply and giving a knock-on effect on the construction market.
Sustainable home improvement materials
Homeowners and companies that install or provide green and energy-saving materials such as heat pumps and solar panels are reporting long delays and higher prices. This is due to the supply chain challenges for steel, cardboard, plastics and electronic components. Thanks to the lengthening of lead times and growing demand, it has become difficult for manufacturers and suppliers to build up stock levels.
