The rise in prices is caused by the accumulation of factors. Because of Corona, there has already been a high demand for construction products that manufacturers hardly need can keep up, which led to an increase in prices. Add to that the war in Ukraine.

a lot Raw materials For building materials such as steel, clay and aluminium. It comes from Russia and Ukraine, so its supplies are now disrupted. The war also drove up energy prices. The consequences are dire, because the production of building materials often requires a lot of gas.

Tiles are also much more expensive

Steel and aluminum producers use a lot of energy and to make tiles for bathrooms and kitchens, for example, gas ovens must be heated to temperatures above 1,000 degrees. What makes the tile market even more mysterious is that Ukraine is an important supplier of clay. As a result, production at some tile factories failed.

Tile buyers have also noticed that prices continue to rise. “There is not a single manufacturer that does not implement a price increase, some are even talking about price increases of 30 to 40 percent,” says Rex Brockmann of the ICA Group. “This is unprecedented for consumers.”

So ICA Group has opened a second warehouse, so that large stocks can be kept. This way they can carry on with their long-term projects, which require a lot of tiles. “However, in some cases it will be necessary to move to another plant, or reconsider the contract,” Brockmann says. Bouwend Nederland is now advising its members not to hold fixed price agreements anymore, because it can no longer keep up with the price hikes.