A global timber shortage is wreaking havoc within the UK scaffolding industry pushing scaffolding board prices sky-high with no end in sight.
Warnings of timber shortages including scaffolding boards are continuing to being issued from leading businesses and organisations from across the UK construction and housebuilding industry.Â
Due to worldwide demand timber organisations and the CLC are expressing stark concerns about low stocks of European softwood, which is the raw material used to produce UK scaffolding boards.Â
Faltering availability and rapidly rising material prices are presenting serious challenges for the sector. And this comes at a time of high levels of sustained growth in construction after the turbulent times caused by the pandemic.
Global Timber Demand
Experts say demand for timber from the three biggest global markets of China, America and Russia has contributed to a situation that may take months to stabilise and years to fully recover.
The USA is fueling the worldwide demand by purchasing record volumes of timber and paying record prices to build timber-framed houses, meanwhile, China is also buying the round log from Europe and other regions for additional supply. This plus a huge growth in the DIY market across Europe have contributed to the demand for timber sending prices sky-rocketing.
To put it simply, global demand is outstripping production.
Rising Scaffolding Board Prices
According to sources in the UK, scaffolding contractors are now paying on average between £12 – £16 per 13ft board. The average price last year was around 50% cheaper.
Scaffmag understands more increases in scaffolding board prices from suppliers are expected in June and July.
One UK scaffolding board supplier said, “The market is difficult to predict but indications are at the end of Q3 the prices will Plato out.”
“But we don’t think we will ever see boards priced at £7 – £9 again,” they said.
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