Sector Market Update: Fencing & Pallets | 27
SUMMARY
■The fencing season has had a slow start
■Although the market is quieter traders are not expecting a bad year
■Pallet demand has fallen, especially in the construction industry
■Rising energy costs have severely affected pallet and packaging manufacturers
WEATHER DAMPENS FENCING DEMAND
The weather, the economy and a post-lockdown lull are conspiring to make the fencing market quieter than usual. Keren Fallwell reports
Easter usually marks the point the fencing season is out of the starting blocks but this year the gun failed to go off. The absence of storms over winter, which often damage fencing, and a rainy March – the wettest in England and Wales since 1981 and one of the 10th wettest in England, Wales and Northern Ireland since records began in 1836 – have dampened the need and desire to install fencing. Added to that, it’s only 18 months or so since the fencing frenzy of Covid lockdowns,
so many people have replaced fencing or upgraded their gardens fairly recently. The weeks either side of Easter were quiet and, while the sector is expecting business will pick up, it will be a steady rather than a remarkable year.
“It will improve but I think it will be a quieter year because of the economic uncertainty,” a supplier told TTJ. Another said his company was “not rushed off our feet” and he was now expecting a quieter spring. The fear was that now gardens
are starting to bloom, people may delay work until the autumn.
A sawmiller said Q1 had exceeded expectations but he too predicted a pretty even sales line for the season ahead. “I don’t think we’ll see a great spike in demand but I don’t think it will drop off either; it will be more a continuation of what’s not been a bad level,” he said. A merchant told TTJ that fencing and general landscaping were his quieter product areas at present. ►
Above: The weeks either side of Easter were quiet
www.ttjonline.com | May/June 2023 | TTJ
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