Since the global financial crisis of 2008, the UK market for factory-produced mortar has shown generally consistent growth over the last decade. This has been largely off the back of the recovery in the housebuilding market. These are the key findings of leading industry consultancy BDS in its update to its periodic report Estimated Outputs of Mortar Plants in Great Britain.
The size of the mortar market is approaching the 3 million tonnes/year mark, a level not seen since towards the end of the last decade and shows growth of more than 20% over the last three years. The proportion of the market accounted for by dry silo mortar has also grown in relation to the previous share held by ready-to-use mortar.
The BDS updated report provides a detailed analysis of around 60 dedicated mortar factories across all ten regional markets in Great Britain, producing either dry silo mortar or ready-to-use products. Estimated outputs are provided for each plant with market shares provided by company at county, regional and national level.
The report also identifies 14 mortar factories closed in recent years, offset only partly by four new plant openings, while also providing details of consented plants that have yet to be developed. The BDS study focuses on dedicated mortar factories but also takes into account a proportion of the market supplied by independent ready mixed concrete and screed companies, each of whom produce only relatively small amounts of mortar.
