{"id":560318,"date":"2026-05-01T09:55:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T09:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/560318\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T09:55:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T09:55:18","slug":"ready-mixed-concrete-sales-slump-in-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/560318\/","title":{"rendered":"Ready-mixed concrete sales slump in London"},"content":{"rendered":"

Latest figures from the Mineral Products Association show UK demand for essential construction materials dropped further in the first quarter of 2026, extending a four-year downturn.<\/p>\n

Mortar sales, a key indicator of house building activity, fell 2% on the previous quarter and were 5.4% down year-on-year.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Ready-mixed concrete sales slipped 0.5%, while primary aggregates fell 0.8%. Asphalt was broadly flat, down 0.1%, after a short-term boost from road maintenance work ahead of the financial year end.<\/p>\n

The slump has hit London particularly hard, where ready-mixed concrete volumes over the past 12 months were 47% lower than in 2022.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

MPA director of economic affairs Aurelie Delannoy said: \u201cThe Q1 data largely predates the recent escalation in global risks and energy prices, but it shows that UK construction demand was still falling as costs were starting to rise.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSince February, early indications from MPA members point to higher fuel and production costs, alongside emerging signs of project delays and pauses, particularly on some lower-margin housing schemes.\u201d<\/p>\n

House building and commercial work continue to drag down demand, with higher borrowing costs, weak confidence and affordability pressures holding back investment.<\/p>\n

Infrastructure remains the only bright spot, with HS2 and Sizewell C helping to support aggregates demand. Crushed rock volumes rose 1% in Q1, but not enough to offset weakness elsewhere.<\/p>\n

MPA executive chair Chris Leese said: \u201cThere is no sign of recovery in the Q1 data, and this is likely to be further compounded by the economic fallout from events in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cDemand is still falling, and now costs are rising again. That is a difficult combination for any industry, and it raises real concerns about the outlook for construction this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this continues, we are looking at a fifth consecutive year of decline.\u201d<\/p>\n

The MPA is calling for Government action to support housing demand, pump public funding into infrastructure and road maintenance, incentivise private construction investment through a super-deduction and cut costs for the sector.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Latest figures from the Mineral Products Association show UK demand for essential construction materials dropped further in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":560319,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-560318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=560318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/560319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=560318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=560318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=560318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}