Cement shortages and rising prices are hampering Myanmar’s construction and real estate sectors.
The price of a 50kg sack of cement has risen from around 5,000 kyats before the 2021 coup to around 31,000 kyats.
Ma Ohn Mar, 40, an apartment contractor who runs a Yangon construction company, said the price increases are disrupting her projects.
“Within a month, the price of a sack of cement has gone up by around 5,000 kyats due to market scarcity,” she said.
Ma Ohn Mar said a building that would have cost around 200 million kyats early last year will now cost more than 300 million kyats.
The junta’s Ministry of Information website said cement imports via land and sea had been approved to arrive in February to meet rising dry-season demand.
Construction sector sources say domestic cement production has decreased because of Myanmar’s armed conflicts.
They said quarrying for raw materials, including limestone and clay, had decreased and transporting goods was increasingly difficult and expensive.
“The raw materials for cement come from quarries. Some quarry operators cannot get permits for new sites in conflict areas and the roads to existing quarries are damaged,” said U Ye, who works in construction.
He said the junta’s promise of cement imports was probably an attempt to stabilize prices, adding that the statement included no details of the quantity of cement that would arrive in February.
A building supplier, who asked for anonymity, said: “Importing cement incurs additional costs and import restrictions will restrict the availability.”
Construction sources said ongoing projects will be prioritized but new projects will probably be postponed until the cement shortage is resolved.
The prices of steel beams, aluminum pipes and other construction materials have also risen since the 2021 coup, restricting the availability of new housing.
