The timber cladding market is expected to grow by 7% between 2004 and 2009, according to a fresh survey on the sector in the UK.
Manchester-based Market & Business Development Ltd (MBD) believes timber cladding will benefit from its relatively high insulation properties compared with other materials.
MBD’s “UK Cladding Market Development Report” says the total market for exernal wall cladding increased by 5% to 30.8 million m2 in 2004, with demand worth about £1.34bn. Timber’s market share is believed to have been about 207,000m2.
It predicts the sector to grow by a further 16% during the next four years, taking output to 35.6 million m2 in 2009.
MBD thinks composite external cladding will grow by 26% by 2009 – the strongest growth rate in the market. Metal cladding is expected to remain the most popular product, growing by 12% during the forecast period.
The company says value growth in the cladding industry has been moderately slower than volume growth between 2000-2004, reflecting price competition and developments in prefabricated production.
