"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.".
Taken from Diario Libre
SANTO DOMINGO. – Plastic parts and pipes, wood, paint, cement, and rebar are among the construction materials whose prices have risen considerably in the Dominican market, impacting the cost of housing, due in part to increased demand, scarcity, and the transportation of imported materials.
This was pointed out by the president of the Dominican Association of Hardware Stores (Asodefe), Arturo Espinal, who revealed that plastic parts and pipes have registered the greatest increase, followed by wood, which rose between 200% and 300%.
Espinal reported 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.
Although he added that the price of rebar and cement has remained stable in recent months, the representative of the hardware sector warned that a reduction in the cost of materials is not foreseen at the moment.
He revealed that the price of plastic parts and tubes had recently increased again. He stated, "I'm not optimistic that things will normalize or that prices will start to drop anytime soon.".
He said that apart from the high prices, there is also a shortage of materials, and that this tends to increase prices.
He revealed that the price of plastic parts and tubes had recently increased again. “I’m not very optimistic that things will normalize or that prices will start to come down anytime soon,” he said.
The president of the Dominican Association of Housing Builders and Promoters (Acoprovi), Jorge Montalvo, reported that the rise in the prices of construction materials caused the cost of housing in the country to skyrocket between 25% and 30% during the last year, per square meter.
Imports and measures
“I think they (Acoprovi) were very conservative. The construction sector, of which we are also a part, has suffered a terrible blow from this situation, mainly with raw materials and finished products coming from China. Besides the high prices, there is also a shortage of materials, which tends to drive prices up,” Arturo Espinal explained.
The president of Asodefe indicated that before the pandemic, maritime transport from China to the country cost between US$2,500 and US$3,800, and that currently the figure is between US$18,000 and US$20,000, in addition to the increase in the cost of goods.
“You buy ten thousand dollars worth of ceramics, which are shipped by truck, and you used to pay 1,800 or 2,000 dollars for that maritime transport and 500 dollars for insurance. You were paying between 12,000 and 13,000 dollars. And on that, the government adds it up and charges ITBIS (VAT) and tariffs on the full value. So, what happens? Now we have speculative transport, and the government is treating it as such and profiting from it. That's why the General Directorate of Customs has broken its revenue collection record,” he criticized.
He said that the State has tools to lower the price of all imported products.
“We had a meeting with the Minister of Industry, Commerce, and SMEs, Vítor Bisonó, and we presented him with a proposal that would likely reduce imports from China by at least 20%, but the government doesn't want to sacrifice its revenue,” he stated. Increased sales
Despite the increase in the prices of construction materials, sales of cement, paint and metal structures registered a considerable increase in the country during the first half of 2021, according to statistics from the Central Bank.
Cement sales grew 49.9% in the first half of this year, compared to 2020, while paint sales rose 84.3%, according to the Dominican Economy Report January-June 2021.
Likewise, sales of metal structures rose by 68.1% and those of the rest of the materials by 0.7%.
Arturo Espinal confirmed the data published by the bank regarding the increase in sales of construction materials.
“That’s right. What happened? The pandemic delayed a number of projects that were in the pipeline, but also, as a result of the pandemic, Dominicans living abroad began to receive additional income, remittances skyrocketed, and those resources were used to repair houses and build. That has revitalized the construction sector,” he explained.
