Demand remains the single biggest concern for construction product manufacturers and the primary constraint on future sales.<\/p>\n
The Construction Products Association’s (CPA’s) latest State of Trade Survey<\/em> for Q4 2025 showed that 71 per cent of heavy side firms and 60 per cent of those on the light side expected demand to be the primary pressure on sales over the next 12 months.<\/p>\n Labour availability and capacity were, respectively, the second and third most-frequently cited potential constraints.<\/p>\n During the last quarter of 2025, construction product manufacturers\u2019 sales continued to be held back by weak construction demand.<\/p>\n Lingering uncertainty from early 2025, slow recovery and the Autumn Budget stalled new construction investments and kept homebuyer and improver demand subdued, according to the survey.<\/p>\n The effect was particularly acute for the heavy side, where 81 per cent of manufacturers reported a quarterly decrease in sales volumes and 57 per cent reported a fall compared with a year earlier. These were both the lowest balances since the pandemic-hit quarters of 2020, the CPA said.<\/p>\n On the light side, sales volumes increased during Q4 2025, according to a balance of 13 per cent of firms \u2013 but this was the lowest balance in 18 months.<\/p>\n Heavy side products are typically structural materials used early in construction and include materials used in transport and other civil engineering projects. Light side products are usually installed later in the process and include internal fittings and services.<\/p>\n Market updates from major housebuilders and buyer sentiment surveys highlighted a nervousness to commit to reservations and purchases in the run-up to the Budget.<\/p>\n Manufacturers are also facing continued cost inflation. The survey showed that taxes were mentioned as a main driver of input cost inflation in Q4, indicating that the rise in employer National Insurance Contributions from April was a significant driver.<\/p>\n However, the strongest cost pressure in Q4 came from wages and salaries, with all manufacturers on both the heavy side and the light side reporting an increase compared with a year earlier.<\/p>\n Manufacturers remain positive for the next 12 months. For heavy side manufacturers, 29 per cent of firms anticipated that sales would rise by more than 5 per cent in the next 12 months and 14 per cent anticipated a rise of up to 5 per cent.<\/p>\n For manufacturers on the light side, half anticipated sales rising by up to 5 per cent and 17 per cent anticipated increases of more than 5 per cent in the next 12 months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Demand remains the single biggest concern for construction product manufacturers and the primary constraint on future sales. The Construction Products Association’s (CPA’s) latest State of Trade Survey for Q4 2025 showed that 71 per cent of heavy side firms and 60 per cent of those on the light side expected demand to be the primary …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":158858,"featured_media":517710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[57171],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-537906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-supply-chain"],"yoast_head":"\n