While sales over the summer were slow as a result of the weather, demand for roofing materials was steady this year overall, sales manager with Euronit David McMurtry said.

Euronit is in the roofing business for over 90 years and sells metal and fibre cement sheeting, which is manufactured in its Co Kildare headquarters.

"Our main market would be the dairy sector in the southwest of country, along with tillage.

"The market this year has been steady, not huge panic [for materials]. We would be performing fairly well in line with expectations, we're slightly up on last year," McMurtry told the Irish Farmers Journal.

The drop in sales over the summer, McMurtry said, was as a result of the poor weather and also as a result of the delay in approval for TAMS grants.

Weather

"There's been issues with the weather over the summer. Our fabricator customers are finding it difficult to get into sites, to get sites cleared and get tanks dug and to get the frame up.

"There's a lot of framing going on at the minute, so we'd expect to get sheeting going out over the coming weeks," he said.

McMurtry argued that while the delay in farmers being approved for grants was a factor, the weather was "by far" the biggest barrier.

Euronit also sells its fibre cement sheeting to the piggery market, a sector which has recovered well since last year when pig farmers were reporting losses of between €35 and €40 per finished pig.

"It certainly has recovered this year compared with last year and the year before that," he said.

Prices

This year, there is more certainty in the market with regards to prices, McMurtry said.

"We've seen a lot more stability this year with prices, which is great, there's a bit of certainty there in the market," he said.