The timber shortage that has caused fencing supply to dry up is so severe that the problems are now likely to extend to other categories such as garden buildings.
That's the grim prediction from the British Home Enhancement Trade Association (BHETA), which says that this winter's storms and the enormous demand for replacement fencing is having a knock-on effect on the timber industry as a whole, leaving supplies of softwood materials decimated.

The association says the shortage of wooden fence panels looks set to stay at crisis level for several months to come. And it was only last month that garden timber products supplier Forest Garden warned of a "long-term" shortage of panels caused by the lack of raw materials.

According to Peter Stone, the home improvement sector director at BHETA: "We've been hearing all sorts of stories from our members about the nigh impossibility of getting enough panels to replace all that were destroyed by the storms, with something very like a 'black market' developing and consumers even reporting fence panel thefts!

"Some of the big suppliers have taken on more workers and bought in more machinery to try and speed up panel supply, but our members are saying that this is pretty much pointless as the issue is now one of materials shortage - ironically being exacerbated by the overall economic upturn.

"The problem is likely to pose questions in the supply of other similar products like trellis and wooden garden buildings, so it could be bad news for retailers in these product areas just at the time of year when consumers take a big interest in improving their gardens," he says.

One company at the sharp end is BSW Timber, the largest sawmilling business in the UK, where group marketing manager Eve Johnson explains the extent of the timber crisis.

"Softwood consumption has shrunk from 11m cu m in 2011 to 8.3m cu m last year due to the overall economic downturn," she says. "In the UK market, softwood timber supply is 60% sourced overseas and 40% home grown. The overseas sourcing options are changing as our overseas competitors find other more lucrative markets elsewhere.

"Now with the upturn in the UK economy and the increase in construction requirements for timber - our own sales are up 20% - the UK softwood supply chain finds itself trying to catch up, with production at maximum levels at all mills, something not helped by log prices rising by 20% since the beginning of the year.

"Against this background, while any responsible timber supplier or fencing business allows for an element of weather damage in March/April and stockpiles accordingly, the prolonged nature of this year's storms and their early start in the season has wiped out the reasonable allowances made by the supply chain. That makes a sudden upturn in supply very difficult to achieve."

BHETA member Grange Fencing agrees with this analysis. "It's now the shortage of suitable timber components that is the real constraint," says sales and marketing manager Richard Bennett.

"In the current shortage, stockists are tending to limit their ordering to 6ft high panels which, of course, use more timber than the other smaller sizes, and this is consequently further limiting the number of panels that can be produced.

"We're talking to our customers week by week to confirm what's possible in order to ensure we all get the most out of the timber available."

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