The short trading day month of November saw subdued sales for merchants with the lowest total sales in 10 months.

Year-on-Year

Total Builders’ Merchant value sales in November 2019 were down -7.4% compared with the same month in 2018. On one less trading day, average sales a day dropped -3%.

The following categories were particularly affected: Tools (-12.7%), Timber & Joinery (-9.6%), Ironmongery (-8.0%), Heavy Building Materials (-7.9%) and Landscaping (-7.4%).

The best performing sectors in November 2019 compared with the same period in 2018 were Renewables & Water Saving (+5.3%) and Workwear & Safetywear (+3.7%).

Month-on-Month

Compared with October 2019, November’s sales were down -10.0%. However, when adjusted for two less trading days in November, the drop was less severe at -1.4%.

All product categories were down month-on-month, including Heavy Building Materials (-10.9%), Timber & Joinery (-10.0%) and Ironmongery (-9.8%). Adjusted for trading days, the strongest performing sectors were Workwear & Safetywear (+9.3%) and Kitchens & Bathrooms (+8.0%).

Other periods

Sales in the 12 months December 2018 to November 2019 were down -0.2% on the same period last year. However, adjusting for one less trading day year-to-date, sales are slightly ahead at +0.2%.

Index

November’s BMBI index was 113.4, with Plumbing, Heating & Electrical the highest at 134.6. The Timber & Joinery index for November was 114.7.