“As an association, we trust that His Excellency the President of the Republic, Luis Abinader, will continue working on developing new solutions to mitigate the effects of the increase in construction materials.”.
SANTO DOMINGO – It is timely to review and analyze the mechanisms that govern the price increases of materials for housing construction and thus protect the dream of many Dominicans, which is access to decent housing, declared the Dominican Association of Housing Builders and Promoters (ACOPROVI) yesterday.
The association said it is confident that President Luis Abinader will continue working on developing new solutions to mitigate the effects of the increase in construction materials.
“Today more than ever, it is vital to protect the construction sector to continue boosting the economic and social pace of the Dominican Republic with a view to strengthening the objectives set for 2022.”.
The main representatives of the construction industry believe that the fastest-growing sector this year, contributing 15% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), requires collaboration and synergy between the public and private sectors. They announced that a channel of communication has been opened with government representatives.
“Since last year, the construction sector has faced a major challenge with the increase in the prices of construction materials, a result of the rise in international freight costs. Proof of this is that, between March 2020 and October 2021, there was an increase of approximately 30% in the cost per square meter of construction in housing projects,” the entity noted in a press release sent last night to El Inmobiliario.
Clearly, the global context, he adds, has a significant effect on this increase, as disruptions in trade transactions and reduced production, as a consequence of the health crisis, have led to logistical challenges that are reflected in the prices of raw materials such as wood, steel, copper, aluminum, and liquid fuels.
“Therefore, from ACOPROVI, we support the different measures taken by the authorities to address the rise in prices of construction materials and protect the right of access to decent housing with the recent modification of law 189-11, which raises the ceiling for low-income housing and offers new facilities for hundreds of Dominican families.”.
ASODEFE denounced that the price increases are not stopping
Yesterday, the president of the Dominican Association of Hardware Stores (Asodefe), Arturo Espinal, reported that plastic parts and pipes have seen the greatest price increase, followed by wood, which rose between 200% and 300%.
He noted that the price of paint has risen between 25% and 30%, cement up to 15%, and rebar, "which before the coronavirus pandemic cost RD$40,000 per ton, is now around RD$77,000, although it has been rising gradually, but has had some decreases.".
“We have a local industry (manufacturing supplies for construction), but it depends on imports of raw materials to transform them into finished products,” he stated.
