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New data shows that lack shrinking demand for heavy-side construction materials is putting jobs at risk.

Third quarter (Q3) sales data from the Mineral Products Association (MPA) reveal continued weakness in aggregates, concrete and asphalt sales.

Ready-mixed concrete sales, a barometer for overall construction activity, fell by a further 0.8% across Britain in Q3 compared with Q2 and were 12% lower than a year earlier, extending a prolonged period of decline, with sales having fallen in seven of the past eight years. Aggregates sales were broadly flat while asphalt volumes rose by 2.5% on Q2 but remain below 2024 levels. Although mortar sales improved by 1.0% in the third quarter, this is after a 30% drop over two years in 2023-24.

Regionally, the biggest hit has been taken by the London market, with concrete volumes down by a 32% over the past year. This desperate situation mirrors wider evidence of London’s housing slowdown, with steep declines in approvals, starts and completions, with one key factor being the capital’s exposure to delays on new high-rise buildings caused by planning bottlenecks at the Building Safety Regulator (BSR).

Across the country, weak house-building and commercial construction activity continue to drag heavily on activity, offset only partly by ongoing infrastructure work. But even in major infrastructure the momentum has faded. HS2’s demand for high volumes of material has been cut back following the project reset, and no fewer than nine major road schemes have been cancelled in the past year, slashing the near-term demand for mineral products.

 MPA warns that the sector, which employs more than 80,000 people, remains under severe strain after four consecutive years of declining sales. Businesses have shifted focus on to cost control and efficiency, with sites being mothballed, capacity reduced and skilled workers losing their jobs. These pressures threaten the longer-term supply resilience of essential materials, potentially undermining future housing and infrastructure delivery, the MPA said.

MPA director of economic affairs Aurelie Delannoy said: “The latest data show that the construction downturn remains entrenched. The mineral products sector is having to operate at crisis levels, with no prospect of recovery in the near term. Construction materials are among the earliest indicators of real activity, and these figures send a clear warning to government ahead of the autumn budget: the UK needs decisive measures to unlock project delivery, rebuild confidence and get growth moving.”

MPA executive chair Chris Leese a former Cemex UK vice president, added: “Announcements about infrastructure and planning are all well and good, but for now they remain promises of ‘jam tomorrow’. They do nothing to address the collapse in demand that is draining jobs and capacity from our sector. Without urgent action that results in work on the ground now, the foundations of future delivery — the business investment, the production capacity and the skilled workforce — may not be there at sufficient scale when the country needs them.”

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