Trade performance of the UK building materials and components industries

This paper looks at the trade performance of the UK building materials and components industries. In particular it analyses recent trade performance and trends from 1980 to 1993. The recession has caused many UK manufacturers and suppliers of building materials and components to go out of business. Faced with the present slow recovery, the remaining UK companies must consider their competitiveness and ability to meet the growing demands of the domestic and overseas markets. Import penetration has left the construction materials and components industries with small capacity, less able to invest in the research and development necessary to compete effectively in the world market and to provide for increasing demand as growth in the economy picks up. The balance of trade in these goods is likely to worsen with a consequent detrimental effect on the UK balance of payments.