Leading construction materials firms have written to Chancellor Rachel Reeves warning of a looming production crisis in the sector.

The Mineral Products Association letter states: “Right now, our industry is struggling badly. We need you to act quickly to stimulate construction activity in order to prevent long term damage to the nation’s ability to build.”

The MPA has just recorded the fourth consecutive year of a shrinking market for key construction materials leaving sales volumes at historic lows.

Concrete volumes remain at the lowest levels since the early 1960s and the MPA said there is “now a clear danger of deindustrialisation in this sector.”

It added: “Lacking evidence of meaningful market improvements, in order to protect the long- term viability of our businesses, we are facing the difficult decisions of what to cut,which sites to close, and which roles to make redundant.

“There is a real risk that we will have to reduce the industry’s production capacity significantly in the face of the prolonged weakness of the economy. This would result in a permanent reduction in the ability of the UK to supply itself with essential construction materials, hampering recovery in the short term and growth and investment into the future.”

The MPA is urging Reeves to stimulate housing demand, boost infrastructure funding from the public and private sector and help construction with tax cuts.

MPA Executive Chair Chris Leese said: “We simply cannot go on like this and frankly the solutions are not that complex – they just require the Chancellor to prioritise growth and take immediate action. Our industry has hit historic lows in key markets, so we need a concerted effort from those in Government to make policy decisions that inspire confidence.”

Member firms also want to see a cut in red tape skewing competition.

One said: “We often find ourselves navigating complex carbon regulations and stringent manufacturing standards here in the UK, only for European precast companies to swoop in at the eleventh hour and win the supply contracts for these major projects, as they can supply them more cheaply.

“This occurs even after we have dedicated months to working with the client to ensure they choose the concrete option. The fact that these are multi-million-pound government jobs makes this worse.”