Building materials continue to be in high demand despite a downturn in the number of new homes being built. New data from ReportLinker found that the size of the building materials market was $286 billion in 2021 with growth expected to reach $301 billion in 2022. 

The Building Materials and Market Research Report, which looks at multi-story and single story buildings in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa predicts a continued increase into 2027 totaling $398 billion by 2027. 

This report echoes data from Foundation Building Materials, which released a consumer update in June indicating that building material sales were still strong despite supply chain issues and COVID-19. 

Kirby Thompson, chief sales officer at FBM indicated that there would be continued pressure on the building materials industry. “Supply chain issues have not been resolved in all areas. Areas of improvement will be highlighted in the individual product categories to follow. Freight and transportation is an ongoing issue which has been impacted by rising fuel costs and a driver labor shortage in most parts of North America,” he said. 

He noted that single housing starts have leveled out in recent months, however multi-family construction continues to be strong. He added that commercial construction will also remain high with the Architectural Billings Index remaining above 50. 

Areas of significant growth will include the steel industry, despite supply chain issues. 

“There appears to be some increased capacity coming online in the U.S. and the biggest user of steel, the automotive industry, continues to have other supply chain issues. Our view on the end result looks like steel pricing will be stabilized and there may be a slight decline from current price level,” he said. “Again, this view is dependent on the automotive and appliance industries continuing to be soft and the current European Conflict not escalating any further.”

He said the industry has seen other areas of surprising growth increase demand for ceiling building supplies. Mineral fiber and fiberglass ceilings have increased in price by 17 percent, while grid products have increased 14 percent. 

“In particular, wood products are experiencing extremely elongated lead times,” he said. “We believe these extended lead times will continue throughout the remainder of 2022.”