In its latest update the Construction Leadership Council’s Construction Material Supply Chain Group said: “One of the key challenges across the supply chain remains the lack of detailed explanation accompanying price increases, making it difficult to justify and communicate these costs to clients.
“Clearer evidence and transparency would be welcomed, even if the increases themselves are not.”
The group said war in the Middle East would continue to push prices up for the foreseeable future despite no growth in demand with only concrete plain roof tiles are currently in short supply.
It added: “While there is acceptance that price pressure is justified in some areas, particularly for energy-intensive products (e.g. steel, bricks, concrete, glass, insulation) and petrochemicals (e.g. adhesives, bitumen, PIR, and PVC pipe), increases in other product categories are considered difficult to attribute solely to underlying costs.
“There is no product category that has not shown signs of either current or forthcoming price increases, with pressure recently extending into bathrooms and kitchens, driven respectively by MDF costs for cabinetry and rising overseas logistics and global input costs.
“Increases in raw material costs for metals, including steel, brass, tungsten and copper, were already evident before the Middle East Conflict. Worryingly, further increases are expected, as some imported steel products are facing severe UK tariffs and quotas from 1 July.
“As costs are passed along the supply chain, profit margins are being squeezed at every level. We know, for example, that cost pressures are severely affecting roofing and other specialist subcontractors, who are trying to balance escalating material costs within existing 6-12 month fixed-price agreements, highlighting a significant pressure point within the supply chain.”
