Construction materials: Prices are rising by leaps and bounds

Traders fear that the price of construction materials in the country's market may rise further in the coming days due to the Russian attack on Ukraine.

Even two years ago, 1 ton of top brand rod could be bought for Tk 84,000. But at present, you have to pay 75 thousand to 6 thousand rupees to buy 1 ton rod. In the last two weeks, the price of rod has increased up to Tk 8,000 per tonne. In all, the price of rod has increased by 36.5 percent in two years.

Besides rods, prices of bricks, stones, sand, aluminum, PVC pipe-fittings, etc. have also gone up. As a result, the cost of building infrastructure is increasing. Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the prices of scrap or scrap metal and plastic raw materials are rising anew. As a result, traders fear that the prices of various construction materials including rods and PVC pipe-fittings may go up further in the coming days.

Rehab, an association of real estate traders, has conducted a survey on construction materials. It has come up that the construction cost per square foot has increased from Rs 355 to Rs 400 due to increase in prices of various construction materials including rod, brick, sand and sanitary. The cost of housing establishments has increased by Tk 610-700 per sq ft due to flat sharing with land owners. Housing businessmen have already started adjusting the additional construction cost.

Before the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, the price of a ton of scrap or old iron ore was ৭ 560, which rose to  800 in the world market yesterday. In the last 13 days in the country's market, the price of rod per ton has increased by Tk 6,000 to Tk 75,000 to 8,000.

When asked, BSRM Group Deputy Managing Director (DMD) Tapan Sengupta told Prothom Alo that the raw material for making rods is old iron ore. The price of scrap has been rising for a long time as the supply in the world market is less than the demand. That is why the price of the rod has to be adjusted. He added that after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, the price of old iron ore in the world market has risen abnormally again.

We booked yesterday (Wednesday) for 815 for good quality raw materials. If rods are made with the price that is being sold in the world market now, it will cost 95 thousand rupees per ton.

Meanwhile, even though the price of cement has not increased, discussions have started among the companies. They say that in the case of import of raw materials for cement, the price of fuel oil has also gone up in the country along with the ship fare. This has increased the production cost of cement. If prices are not adjusted in this situation, the companies will have to count the losses.

Bangladesh Cement Manufacturers Association (BCMA) President. Alamgir Kabir recently told Prothom Alo that the cement companies were incurring huge losses due to rising freight rates and intense competition in the country. If this situation continues for a long time, no one will be able to survive in this sector. So there is no alternative to price adjustment.

Products like PVC and UPVC pipe-fittings, doors, ceilings etc. are widely used in building construction. The prices of those products have also gone up by 30-35 percent in the last three-four months. Sanitary wages have risen to Rs 20 per square foot, according to Rehab, an association of real estate traders.

Riyad Mahmud, managing director (MD) of National Polymer Group, said: At that time the price was increasing due to the ship rent but now it is increasing due to the war. Last year, raw materials were bought at 1,000 per tonne, but now it has increased to  91,900. So we have been forced to increase the price of the product step by step.

According to Rehab, each brick is currently being sold at Rs 10-12. In one year the price per brick has increased by about 2 rupees. However, the owners of several brick kilns said that bricks are also available at Rs 8-9 in Manved.

If you want to know the member of the brick kiln association. Abdul Islam said last night, 'A lot of coal is needed to burn bricks. Last year, a ton of coal could be bought for Tk 8,000, which has now increased to Tk 24,000-25,000. We have been forced to increase the price of bricks because of coal.

Sohail Rana, vice-president of REHAB , told Prothom Alo: "The housing sector was revolving around the impact of Corona. But the rising cost of construction materials has made us think. The housing sector will fall.