Labor Shortages Led To The Rising Cost Of Building Materials

The building materials sector witnessed in the last period unprecedented price increases. This price rise greatly affected the cost of construction, in addition to other factors related to the shortage of manpower, high wages, supply, and demand, Al Jarida daily reported.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI) assured that steps will be taken to tighten control over Building materials prices. They also said that legal measures would be taken against anyone who is tempted to exploit the consumer’s need for any commodity and violates the law by raising its price.

In this regard, Al-Jarida asked several industrialists about the reasons for the high prices of building materials, and what are the solutions. They agreed that one of the most important reasons for this is the lack of sufficient labor to operate the factories at their full production capacity.

The industrialists pointed out that the wages of manpower doubled, and this also affected the prices of building materials.

Initially, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sudair Company for Trading and Contracting, Tariq Al-Mutawa, said that the crisis of high prices for building materials is not local, but global, due to the economic imbalances caused by the Corona pandemic.

Al-Mutawa added that freight and transportation prices have increased, which is reflected in the prices of building materials, in addition to the lack of sufficient labor to operate factories at their full production capacities, and prices have risen in most countries of the world, not just in Kuwait.

He explained that manpower wages have doubled, and this has affected the prices of building materials.

He pointed out that a mechanism must be put in place to ensure the return of existing and stuck workers abroad soon.

He mentioned that the prices of building materials are linked to global events, and are affected positively or negatively by them, as many raw materials are imported from abroad and manufactured locally, thus any external obstacles affect the prices locally.

Al-Mutawa said that the building materials sector, like other economic sectors, was greatly affected by the Corona crisis, and the closures and preventive measures that followed, explaining that a state of balance must be created between supply and demand so that there is no major change in prices.

Raw materials

For his part, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Kuwait Industries Holding Company, Muhammad Al-Naqi, said that the increase in the prices of building materials that the country witnessed during the last period was expected due to many factors that contributed to this.

Al-Naqi believed that one of the most important factors that contributed to raising the prices of building materials is the low productivity of factories, due to the presence of their technical workers abroad, and their inability to return to the country, thus the production of factories decreased and became unable to meet the market requirements at present.

He added that among the factors also the high prices of raw materials, as a result of the high transportation prices, in addition, that some people took advantage of this time and monopolized the materials, which led to the increase in their prices even more.

He explained that the concerned authorities must create a state of balance between supply and demand, by organizing the construction process, so that there is no high demand matched by a decrease in supply.

He mentioned that if workers return from abroad, the productivity of factories will increase, as the concerned authorities must facilitate their return as soon as possible, indicating that the continuation of the situation as it is heralds an increase in prices more than it is at present.

Project flow

For his part, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Amlak Capital Holding Company, Mahmoud Al-Jumah, said that building materials have witnessed very large price rises during the last period, after a severe recession that lasted for nearly a year due to the Corona pandemic and the accompanying health government measures and public closures to confront this crisis.

On Friday, he added that the high prices of building materials are due to many reasons, including the massive influx of construction projects, amid the low production capacities of building materials factories, as some factories operate with a production capacity of 25 percent, and therefore cannot meet market demands at present.

He explained that the decrease in the productive capacities of the factories is because their workers were not allowed to return from their countries, and the workers in the country are not vaccinated, which led to an increase in the worker’s wages, and consequently affected the prices of building materials in general.

The rise in the prices of building materials will have very big consequences, as several citizens have to postpone building their homes until the prices drop, and the rise will also cause problems between the contractor and the citizens.

 

SOURCE  ;  TIMES KUWAIT

Comments Post Comment

Leave a Comment

Submit