Before COVID-19, a roll of soft wire cost between two thousand and three thousand pesos; with the first wave it reached 6 thousand, and two weeks ago its price doubled and is quoted at $12,462
SANTO DOMINGO.- The fact that maritime freight rates continue to rise, as stated by the Shipping Association, worries representatives of the construction sector, because it would further add to the disproportionate increases in the cost of materials, which, along with the coronavirus, have not stopped and are rising more each day.
The Dominican Republic is the country in the region where the increases have been most severe, and as if it were a speculative phenomenon, some materials are already scarce in the market.
One case analyzed by Eliseo Cristopher, president of the Dominican Confederation of Micro, Small and Medium Construction Companies (Copymecom) is the roll of soft wire frequently used in construction ties.
Before COVID-19, it cost between two thousand and three thousand pesos, with the first wave it reached 6 thousand and two weeks ago its price doubled and is quoted at $12,462; and as if that were not enough it does not appear in the market either.
“There is definitely a disproportionate price increase, internal speculation; it is a product that is widely used in the construction process, but it has been hoarded, there is none on the market, and what little there is is at that price,” says the representative of the small and medium-sized builders.
Add to the indiscriminate price hikes the ceramics, since those that were priced at 245 pesos are now being bought at 925 pesos and are "of third quality," the rebar increased by 10% last week and "has already increased again".
The van component leaves the sector in a state of permanent instability, aware that in the country the price of raw materials that rises does not fall, leaving the sector that Cristopher represents at a disadvantage, given their limited capacity to absorb the increases.
