The latest Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) report reveals that builders’ merchants’ value sales in November 2021 were 17.4% up on the same month in 2020, with record-breaking and year-best performances recorded across a number of categories.
Timber & Joinery Products (+30.2%) recorded its 15th consecutive month of year-on-year growth. Renewables & Water Saving (+18.0%) and Landscaping (+17.1%) also put in a strong performance, and Services (+17.1%) had its best-ever monthly sales since the BMBI started in July 2014. Kitchens & Bathrooms (14.5%) had its highest-ever monthly BMBI turnover. Plumbing, Heating & Electrical (13.8%) had its best month of 2021, and Heavy Building Materials, the largest category, also performed strongly (+13.5%).
Like-for-like sales, which take trading day differences into account, were up 12.1% year-on-year.
Compared to November 2019, a pre-pandemic year, total merchant value sales were up 28.0% in November 2021, with one more trading day in 2021. Eleven of the 12 categories sold more with Landscaping (+51.4%) and Timber & Joinery Products (+51.3%) still leading the pack.
Emile van der Ryst, Senior Client Insight Manager - Trade, GfK, said: “The most recent quarter has seen a continuation of the strong growth experienced throughout 2021, but the sector is now starting to see the first signs of easing. This year has been just as unexpected as 2020 for merchants, albeit for more positive reasons. While Q3 wasn’t another record quarter, it was only -2.4% behind Q2 in absolute value and was the second-best quarter on record. Volume growth has come to a standstill in Q3, with most value growth now being driven by price increases.
“Year-to-date the sector is up by 36.2% in value, with this noticeably ahead of some of the growth forecasts made at the beginning of the year. Against 2019, which is a more accurate benchmark, year-to-date growth is up by 15.1%. Further evidence of continued growth is that the year-to-date growth against 2019 at the end of Q2 was sitting at 13.5%, which is lower than the abovementioned 15.1% by the end of Q3.
“Going into the drivers behind the growth, the Builders Merchants sector is very much influenced by all the heavyside activity. Year-to-date Heavy Building Materials is up by 28.6% against 2020 and 7.9% against 2019. Using the same year-to-date metric both Timber & Joinery and Landscaping have continued their astounding growth. Timber & Joinery is up 61.4% against 2020 and 35.7% against 2019, while Landscaping is up 35.9% against 2020 and 37.9% against 2019.
“In the previous quarter categories such as Blocks, Bricks, Insulation, Lintels, Sheet Materials and Timber were highlighted for their record performance and this has continued strongly. Blocks, Lintels, Sheet Materials and Timber have again had record quarters, with Bricks and Insulation not far behind Q2’s record figures.
“The final quarter of the year should see further sales easing, but still moving along very well. Supply chain issues are reducing, but wider UK market sentiment suggests this could persist until 2023. Pricing will most likely continue to drive any value growth. It’s safe to say that the final year figures will be noticeably ahead of initial forecasts, but we expect that 2022 will see a decline against this most exceptional year.”
