Steel increases market share in key multi-storey sector

Steel continues to be overwhelmingly the structural framing material of choice for multi-storey non-domestic buildings, according to the latest survey from independent market research consultants Construction Markets.

The 2013 survey, commissioned by Tata Steel and the BCSA, is the latest in a series going back to 1980 and is thought to be the biggest of its type in the UK, involving over 450 interviews with construction specifiers.

The survey shows that steel frames continue to dominate the multi-storey market with an increase in market share to 68.2%. The survey also shows that the market contracted by a further 10.1% in 2013, with overall floor area constructed in all multi-storey buildings reducing to 7,977,000m², which was only 52.4% of the size of the market at its peak of 2008, when it was 15,266,000m².

Insitu concrete had a market share of only 19.9%. Load bearing masonry had a 6.6% share, while precast concrete accounted for 2.8% and timber 2.5%.

Steel now has a 70.7% share of the multi-storey offices market. In the ‘other multi-storey buildings’ sector, which includes retail, education, leisure and health, steel has a 67.4% share.

Alan Todd, General Manager of Construction Services & Development in Tata Steel Europe said: ‘These figures clearly show that the key multi-storey construction market continues to value steel above any other framing material. It is good to see that steel is the natural choice of framing material for the construction industry where factors like speed, cost, thermal mass, embodied carbon and wider sustainability performance are important.’