Find out how much the most common building materials are costing at the builder’s merchant with this price tracker.

In this article we cover:

What factors are affecting material price increases in 2022
How much insulation costs and where prices are heading
How much sheet materials cost and where prices are heading
How much timber costs and where prices are heading
How much plasterboard costs and where prices are heading
How much cement costs and where prices are heading
How much concrete blocks cost and where prices are heading

Online builder’s merchant mybuildingsupplies.ie has started a building materials price tracker for the most common building materials used in Ireland today.

They have used figures on a per square meter or meter cubed basis and taken an average to show general trends. Data collecting started in March 2022 and are for ROI only. Here are the highlights from June.

Materials price tracker for insulation

May has seen another small rise in insulation prices across the board but they now seem to have stabilised. Manufacturers saw their costs increase due to raw ingredient shortages and rising energy costs. End consumers are also paying for increased global transport costs.

The expectation among industry experts is of ongoing fluctuation in pricing for the short to medium term, but with prices eventually stabilising.

Price tracker for timber

There was an overall increase in the price of timber in 2021 and this has continued to rise slightly in early 2022.

If energy and transport costs do not increase significantly for the rest of 2022 then there is hope that the costs will stabilise and level out.

Price tracker for cement

May 2022 was an expensive one for cement. Fuel and energy made the raw ingredient shortages and global transport situation worse.

If energy costs stabilise throughout 2022 then there is optimism that the overall pricing will level out and possibly even reduce.

Price tracker for sheet materials

Price increases seen in early 2022 have plateaued. However, recent stock shortages are likely to push up demand with an inevitable rise in costs following. Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) will be affected in particular by the war in Ukraine due to key ingredients being sourced from there.

We are expecting a price increase in the short term due to supply shortages and increasing manufacturing and transport costs. The medium to long term outlook is more positive with a stabilisation of energy and transport costs.

Price tracker for plasterboard

Plasterboard benefited from fairly consistent pricing throughout 2021 and 2022. However, the fuel and energy situation has exasperated rising costs due to raw ingredient shortages along with global transport bills rising.

A price increase is still a possibility but the overall pricing has levelled out. There is cautious optimism that this level will be maintained unless energy costs increase throughout 2022.

Price tracker for concrete blocks

The cost of concrete blocks overall increased in 2021 and this has continued to rise slightly in early 2022. The fuel and energy situation has exasperated rising costs.

Cautious optimism that pricing can be maintained but rising energy costs may prevent that.