Commercial Aluminium Glazing: Palmer Reports

The good times might well be over for the aluminium commercial glazing market in the UK, according to Palmer Market Research, the market research analyst, but not before further growth in 2008.

Having experienced significant rises over the last four years, the latest report* from Palmer Market Research, predicts that this sustained growth will come to a halt in the sectors surveyed in 2009. The installed value of the aluminium commercial glazing market in Great Britain in 2007 was £2.73 billion. This was an impressive 45% up on 2004, the base year for Palmer Market Research's previous report.

‘Stripping out inflation, there has been a doubling of the window market in nine years and of the curtain walling market in 12 years’ says Palmer.

Palmer looked at the individual product markets in 2007 of windows, curtain walling, shopfronts, entrance doors and roof glazing.

After further growth in 2008, all the product sectors above are predicted to experience a decline from 2009 on.

Windows
The aluminium commercial window market grew by 21% between 2004 and 2007 to 1.64 million frames and that was a new record high. Unlike PVC-U, average unit prices also went up by 21%, resulting in a 46% increase in the installed value to £1.09 billion.

Palmer predicts that although there will be an 8% growth in 2008, it will be followed by a decline of 2% in 2009 and 2.5% in 2010. The private sector will fall between 2007 and 2012 by 12.5% and housing (apartments blocks) by a considerable 54%. One chink of light comes in the public sector which is expected to increase by 24%.

Curtain walling
This sector increased by 26% between 2004 and 2007 to 1.17 million square metres. As with windows this is a record high. Stick systems grew by 27% and unitised systems by 16%.

Palmer forecasts growth of 5% in 2008, followed by a fall of 4% in 2009 and 3% in 2010. Between 2007 and 2012 the private sector will have declined by 15%, housing by 54% but the public sector will have grown by 25%.

Similar trends are anticipated in the three other sectors that Palmer investigated - Shopfronts & Ground Floor Treatment Market, Commercial Entrance Door Market and the Roof Glazing Market.

The report deals with the likely impact of macro economic factors such as the Credit Crunch and inflation, placing the commercial aluminium glazing market in its proper context.

The research programme for the report involved:
• 136 structured interviews with fabricators, installers and systems companies
• Face to face meetings with key companies in the industry.
• The Chief Executive and Technical Officer of the Council for Aluminium in Building.
• The Chief Executive and Chief Economist of the Construction Products Association.
• A full desk research programme of official and privately collected statistics.
• Past data on the market held on the Palmer Market Research database.

*The Aluminium Commercial Glazing Markets in Great Britain 2008.
Full Report: £2,950 + VAT (CAB members £2,300 + VAT)
Summary Report: £1,150 + VAT (CAB members £950 + VAT)

For further details, contact:
Palmer Market Research
Tel: 020 8390 8131
Email : info@PalmerMarketResearch.co.uk

Or, visit the website http://www.palmermarketresearch.co.uk where you can download more details including lists of contents, tables and charts.