Oct 15 2010
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Bricks & Tiles Market Report 2010" report to their offering.
This Market Report analyses the UK bricks and tiles market, which was worth an estimated 1.58bn in 2009. Due to a downturn in the construction industry, the 2009 figure was down by an estimated 14.1% on the previous year.
Products covered in this report are divided into two groups: concrete bricks, blocks and tiles; and clay bricks and tiles. Concrete bricks, blocks and tiles are used in housebuilding, but are also used more generally in the construction market. Concrete bricks and blocks have an important use in landscaping and gardening. For clay bricks and tiles, housebuilding is the main market, but there are also applications where attractive features are required in other types of building, such as commercial, retail and public premises. In terms of turnover, the concrete bricks, blocks and tiles sector is considerably larger than the clay bricks and tiles category.
The bricks and tiles industry is critically dependent on housebuilding, and this report provides key statistics on the value of this market, as well as the number of housing starts and completions.
The UK market consists mostly of large European companies, with leading operators in the UK being Wienerberger of Austria (which owns Baggeridge Brick), Hanson (owned by Heidelberg of Germany), Ibstock Brick (owned by CRH of the Republic of Ireland) and Marley Eternit (part of Etex of Belgium). Monier of France also has substantial activities in the UK roofing market.
The UK bricks and tiles industry faces several important challenges, the most immediate of which being the difficult economic conditions in the housebuilding sector. Severe restrictions on credit have caused a serious downturn in housebuilding, which, in turn, has led to a decline in the demand for bricks and tiles. Although bricks and tiles are a well-established part of the UK building materials market, new fast-track construction techniques are being developed, mostly involving factory production of sections that can be assembled rapidly on site.
Sustainability is a principle now encouraged in all sections of UK industry, and in the bricks and tiles market, this involves considering the impact of raw-material extraction, e.g. clay, as well as final disposal/recycling. When in use, bricks are assessed for their contribution to carbon emissions. Energy and water consumption are also matters to be monitored in production. Traditional materials such as bricks and tiles are now compared with competing materials to give a view on lifecycle cost and environmental issues.
The future of the bricks and tiles market is linked to the recovery of the UK economy (and hence the construction market). There have been signs of a recovery in recent months, but the effect of the Government's actions to reduce its debt has yet to be experienced. Although cuts in public expenditure have been announced, the consequent effects on the UK housebuilding market are as yet unclear.