‘Improvement’ in GB ready mixed concrete markets

Ready mixed concrete markets in Great Britain increased by an estimated 8% during 2011, an improvement on the fall that exceeded 30% which occurred over the three previous years. However, the concrete industry has not been able to sustain these higher volumes in 2012.

Industry marketing consultancy, 671 BDS Marketing Research, expects that ready mixed concrete volumes will fall back to their 2010 level in the current year.

These are some of the conclusions of BDS Marketing’s annual report on the industry, Estimated Market Shares of Ready Mixed Concrete Companies in Great Britain, which estimates the market shares of all companies in the industry, by county, regionally and nationally. As well as a three-year forecast, the BDS report identifies plants and companies that have both closed and opened over the past 12 months.

Although nationally, markets were higher during 2011, BDS did not find this across all regions. Much of the growth centred on the south-east where the market increased by more than twice the national average. However, the ready mixed concrete market in Wales and northern England actually fell last year.

The industry has seen rapid growth in on-site batched concrete in recent years. If the sector is taken as a whole, it now supplies more concrete than the fifth largest supplier of batched concrete. However, BDS believes that the sector has now begun to mature and the rate of market penetration has slowed.

“The industry awaits the outcome of the formation of a joint venture between two of the top five concrete companies, 868 Tarmac and 725 Lafarge. To satisfy Competition Commission requirements, these companies have to sell off a number of ready mixed concrete plants, as well as interests in cement, aggregates and asphalt. The Commission has indicated a preference for one company to acquire all of the concrete plants. BDS believes that this would create a business which will become the third largest ready mixed concrete supplier in the industry,” says BDS.

BDS has calculated that 1343 Hanson is the largest ready mixed concrete company in the country, followed by Cemex. The top five suppliers are estimated to have over 70% of the market, similar to the previous year.

The consultancy estimates that Hanson is the largest supplier in southern England and Wales. 643 Cemex is the leading company in east Anglia and County Yorkshire, Tarmac the largest in northern England.

“Although the market is subdued currently, BDS is cautiously optimistic that prospects will turn for the better in the second half of 2013. Next year will not see the same level of disruption as 2012, in terms of the weather, Olympics and Jubilee events. Overall, it is forecasting a market in 2013 to be similar to the current year, before growth in 2014.”

Further details of the report entitled are available by contacting Julian Clapp at BDS on (01761) 433035; Email: <%$Linker:2Email<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary />000oLinkEmail[email protected]BDSfalsemailto:[email protected]truefalse%> or <%$Linker:2External<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary />000oLinkExternalwww.bdsmarketing.co.ukBDSfalsehttp://www.bdsmarketing.co.uk/falsefalse%>.