“Timber is an important product group for generalist builders merchants as well as dedicated timber merchants” – Richard Ellithorne
According to Richard Ellithorne, membership services director of the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF), timber products “are frequently the most profitable area for generalist merchants.” As such, timber is a sector that “the BMF is keen to promote and support.”
Timber is outperforming other materials on the market: according to Mr. Ellithorne, 2017’s overall builders merchant sales were up 4.8% against 2016, while timber sales were up by 5.4%. In the first quarter of this year, timber has continued to outpace the wider building materials market. Why?
One of the obvious reasons is the government’s support for private housebuilding, but another is rising timber prices, which have led to greater sales by value figures than we might otherwise see. Of course, rising prices remain perhaps the sector’s biggest challenge this year.
Mr. Ellithorne also said that sustainability was crucial to the continued health of the timber market (something Quercus has long advocated). He opined: “many merchants already consider sustainability as a matter of course, but we have a responsibility to encourage every one of them to do so.”
According to the BMF, engineered timber is both a growth area, and a relative rarity on the market: “engineered timber was seen as having the greatest potential, which came as a surprise as relatively few merchants were selling these products at the time.”
Quercus has long championed the use of engineered timber products (alongside traditional materials), which offer improved stability in a number of applications. As such, Quercus stocks a range of engineered products and modified timbers including Accoya, with it’s industry leading benefits.