Ireland has a strong construction products sector which offers a considerable range of products and services – from construction and building materials, cement production, concrete products to timber processing and timber products. Although the industry has a strong domestic base, it is also a major player in international markets. Many of the leading Irish companies have extensive manufacturing operations outside the country as well as exporting from Ireland.
The Dublin-based CRH group is one of the world leaders in construction materials, with an annualised turnover of more than €11bn. It operates manufacturing locations in many European countries, as well as in the US and elsewhere. It continues to expand and spends over €1b per annum on acquisitions, mainly outside Ireland. In Ireland, Roadstone, which is part of the group, operates in over 50 locations, manufacturing a wide variety of products, from concrete products to roof tiles and clay bricks. It is also a major player in the ready mixed concrete market, which has a number of other significant players, including Kilsaran and Readymix.
Cement production is also important within this sector, with long-established cement factories in Drogheda and Limerick. The latest cement plant, located about 40km west of Dublin, went into production in 2002, representing an investment of €100m. In full production it is expected to produce 450,000 tonnes of grey and white cement per year.
The Kingspan Group is another very large producer of building materials and manufactures insulated wall and roof systems. The group has eight plants in Ireland, as well as 15 in Britain and others in such diverse locations as the Czech Republic.
The remaining components of building work are well represented. Ireland has a strongly developed timber processing tradition, manufacturing timber products for the construction industry, from floors to roof timbers and windows. The Louisiana-Pacific Coillte plant in Waterford produces boards for flooring. Composite board, made from timber chips, is widely used in the construction industry and it too is manufactured extensively in Ireland. One large US-owned company, Masonite, located in Co. Leitrim, uses timber chips and offcuts to make moulded door facings.
Other market leaders include a large firm based in Co Wicklow, Qualceram Shires, which is a market leader in bathroom products ; Fleetwood Paints, at Virginia,Co Cavan which has invested heavily in research and development, creating new and environmentally friendly decorative coatings.
Ireland also has a growing tradition of timber built housing. Since much of the assembly work for this type of housing is done in the factory rather than on site, construction time is cut drastically. The Irish construction products sector is advancing in prefabrication developments. This is in line with the worldwide trend for great prefabrication in the construction industry, making units and sections in factories and delivering them to sites ready made, to save time and money.
Many other related services and equipment are manufactured in Ireland, ranging from scaffolding manufacture to office and interior fit-out services. Ireland is also home to BuildOnline, Europe’s biggest e-construction website, which uses internet technology to make construction as quick and efficient as possible.