UK construction’s demand for large-volume mineral products, such as aggregate building materials and ready mix concrete showed resilience in the first quarter of 2021.
Construction demand for mineral products resilient during Q1 2021
UK construction’s demand for large-volume mineral products, such as aggregate building materials and ready mix concrete showed resilience in the first quarter of 2021, despite difficult lockdown restrictions, Brexit and particularly wet winter weather that hampered activity, according to the latest survey from the Mineral Products Association (MPA).
However, the recovery in construction must not be taken for granted because a lot depends on the Government’s policy stimuli in housing and its delivery of the UK’s already planned infrastructure programme.
While largely positive, trends in sales volumes for essential mineral products show mixed results for heavy-side building materials such as aggregates, ready-mixed concrete, asphalt and mortar. These core products are mostly used in the early stages of construction – eg foundations and structures – so their sales provide an insight into a lot of new projects starting, rather than project completion.
In the latest MPA survey, building materials manufacturers, who between them supply around 1 million tonnes of mineral products every day, reported a steady start to the year, with construction demand in March much stronger than at the beginning of the year.
Recognised as the main aggregate supplier in the Anglia and East Midlands regions, the Mick George Group supply 3-million tonnes of aggregates each year to the Construction Industries elite to facilitate many high-profile construction developments in the Groups’ operating areas.
We help reduce stock issues by continuing to invest in our own quarries, situated strategically in six different counties throughout the Anglia and East Midlands regions. Not only does this allow us to replenish stock whenever required, but it also allows us to determine the quality, consistency and grade-specification of the primary aggregates that we distribute.
