IN Brief:
- Seasonally adjusted brick deliveries fell 10.1% in August compared with a year earlier, while block deliveries declined 6.5%.
- The construction material price index for all work increased 6.4% over the year and 0.4% between July and August.
- Fabricated structural steel rose 21.2% annually, while ready-mixed concrete, cement and imported sawn wood recorded price falls.
Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade figures show that brick and concrete block deliveries remained below last year’s levels in August while construction material prices continued to rise.
Seasonally adjusted brick deliveries were 10.1% lower than in August 2025, while concrete block deliveries fell 6.5% over the same period. The material price index for all construction work increased 6.4% over the year and 0.4% between July and August.
The annual declines in masonry volumes were smaller than those recorded a month earlier. Brick deliveries rose 12.6% between July and August after July had been 22.9% below the same month in 2025. Block deliveries also increased from July, leaving the latest data with weaker annual volumes but a partial month to month recovery.
Delivery statistics measure product moving through the supply chain rather than completed construction output. Stock changes, purchasing schedules, weather and the timing of large developments can all affect a monthly figure, so several periods are needed before a change in direction can be treated as a sustained recovery or decline.
Price data show a separate pressure. Materials used in other new work recorded the strongest annual increase among the broad indices at 7.4%, while new housing materials rose 5.6% and repair and maintenance materials increased 5.9%.
Those averages conceal much larger movements in individual products. Fabricated structural steel rose 21.2% in the 12 months to August, rigid pipes and fittings increased 15.5%, and concrete reinforcing bars rose 12.5%. Ready-mixed concrete fell 0.7%, cement fell 0.8%, and imported sawn or planed wood declined 1.6%.
The spread matters because two projects exposed to the same overall construction market can experience very different material costs. A steel intensive frame, a reinforced civil structure and a masonry housing scheme draw on different baskets of products, so the 6.4% all work index is a reference point rather than a reliable estimate of inflation for every package.
Ready-mixed concrete volumes remain weak despite some sequential improvement. Seasonally adjusted sales increased 1.5% in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the first quarter, but remained 6.1% below the second quarter of 2025. First quarter sales had been 11.8% below the equivalent period a year earlier.
Cement production also fell during 2025. UK production decreased 4.8% to 6.9 million tonnes, while clinker production fell 4.1% to 6.1 million tonnes. Clinker is the kiln produced intermediate material that is ground with other constituents to make cement, so lower clinker output can reflect both plant operation and demand for finished cement.
Brick production followed a different annual pattern. Domestic output increased during 2025 after earlier weakness, while imports continued to supplement UK supply. That means lower deliveries in August 2026 do not automatically indicate a shortage of manufacturing capacity; they can also reflect slower drawdown from producers and merchants as construction demand changes.
The distinction between price and volume is important during tendering. Lower demand for one product does not guarantee a lower project price if other inputs are rising quickly, and contractors may still face labour, energy, transport and specialist subcontract costs moving in a different direction from bulk materials.
Structural steel is a clear example. A 21.2% annual increase can affect frames, temporary works and fabricated components even when concrete or cement prices are flat or falling. The effect on a project depends on how much steel has already been bought, whether prices are fixed in supply agreements and how much design work remains open to substitution or value engineering.
Pipes and fittings show a similar problem for building services and infrastructure work. A broad materials index can look relatively stable compared with a product category rising by more than 15%, so package level procurement information remains more useful than an economy wide average when contractors are pricing live work.
The latest figures also sit alongside Q3 construction data showing weak broader conditions. Infrastructure programmes continued to advance, but softer building demand and persistent cost pressure created a market in which activity and input prices were not moving in the same direction.
August therefore does not show a simple fall in construction demand or a straightforward inflation story. Brick and block deliveries were lower than a year earlier but higher than in July, while the all work materials index continued to rise and several steel and pipe products recorded much larger increases. The next releases will show whether the recovery in masonry deliveries persists while annual price pressure remains elevated.
