But CPA says 鈥榮upply chains are generally slow to change鈥�
Masonry manufacturers have urged construction firms to use UK-sourced masonry instead of imported timber to combat shortages post-Brexit.
The Timber Trade Federation (TTF) warned in December that delays to the supply of timber will continue 鈥渨ell into 2021鈥� following a surge in covid-19 cases in Sweden, the largest exporter of timber to the UK. It said that supply could be further complicated by Brexit.
Construction product imports are currently within a six-month grace period following the Brexit trade agreement signed in December but will require customs declarations and payment of tariffs from 1 July.
Softwood timber is currently the most imported construction product and tends to come from Scandinavia or the Baltic states.
Now Chris Stanley, housing manager for precast concrete trade association British Precast, said masonry would be a cheaper and a more accessible alternative to timber.
Stanley said: 鈥淔rom a masonry point of view, we haven鈥檛 got the shortages, we haven鈥檛 got the tariffs, we haven鈥檛 got the waiting at borders, we haven鈥檛 got the shipping costs which are gradually increasing.
鈥淚n the housebuilding industry, there鈥檚 quite a push for timber frame and modular builds which are predominantly timber-based and, with the shortage of structural timber that is well documented right now, the masonry manufacturers of the UK are more than capable of fulfilling the shortfall.鈥�
But TTF managing director David Hopkins said that timber was both lighter and more versatile than masonry, and had a smaller carbon footprint.
He said: 鈥淯sing masonry would ruin the low carbon sustainability targets for many new-build projects.
鈥淭imber, whether imported or domestic, has far better low carbon credentials than almost any other competing material. It鈥檚 why it is such a material of choice.鈥�
Noble Francis, Construction Products Association economics director, said that while the UK produces a significant amount of timber, there is 鈥渘ot enough to solely rely on domestic production and we鈥檙e not going to suddenly grow exponentially more trees. Even if we did, we wouldn鈥檛 be cutting them all down for use in construction.鈥�
He added that there may be a shift towards increasing domestic demand for some products 鈥渋f the additional cost and hassle of importing persists鈥�.
But he cautioned that supply chains are generally slow to change and major new investment in domestic manufacturing takes many years to get from investment planning to decision to factory construction.
He added: 鈥淭hat investment only occurs if firms are certain that the demand will remain high for a long period, not just because of a short-term increase in domestic demand.鈥�
The Builders Merchants Federation warned last month that it had received reports of some products not being available before August, while timber prices are surging by an average of 20%.
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