The lifting of Covid-19 border restrictions and safe management measures may have thrown a lifeline to the beleaguered construction sector, but it is still not out of the woods as cost pressures have continued to rise on the back of the war in Ukraine and lockdowns in China.
High energy prices have also pushed the prices of raw materials such as steel rebars, aluminium and copper up by 20 per cent in recent months, Singapore Contractors Association (Scal) president Ng Yek Meng told The Straits Times yesterday at a groundbreaking ceremony for Scal’s new Construction Hub. This was after materials costs had already risen sharply over the past two years.
Speaking to ST on the sidelines of the ceremony, Minister for National Development Desmond Lee said the Government does not see any direct impact from the Ukraine war on the construction sector at this time, but it remains vigilant.
Construction material costs have gone up, but Mr Lee noted that many government projects here have fluctuation clauses that allow contract prices to be adjusted.
“We continue to study what more needs to be done to better support our contractors,” he said.
This story is from the April 19, 2022 edition of The Straits Times.
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This story is from the April 19, 2022 edition of The Straits Times.
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