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Recognized as Essential to Keep Going During the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Construction Industry Continued Activities on Ongoing Projects and Advanced in Residential and Commercial Renovations
The emergency aid and remote work motivated renovations at home and in offices. What no one expected was that the construction materials sector would take advantage of this crisis phase faced by the country to raise prices almost universally, well above inflation. Most items saw increases of up to 10%, according to a survey conducted by the Brazilian Chamber of the Construction Industry (CBIC) among its member companies.
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Statistics on the Construction Industry
According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), cement became 10.67% more expensive this year and bricks, 16.86%. The increase has been felt since the beginning of the pandemic, but it accelerated in recent weeks.
Only in August, cement prices rose by 5.42% and bricks by 9.32%. The Brazilian Chamber of the Construction Industry (Cbic) estimates that about 90% of construction companies in the country are already having to pay more for these products and also for items such as steel, electrical cables, and concrete.
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In Times of Crisis, It’s Not the Time to Raise Construction Material Prices
The president of the Santa Catarina Federation of Industries Construction Industry Development Chamber (Fiesc), Paulo Obenaus, believes that in an unprecedented crisis like the current one, it is not the time to raise prices. In the State, the increases followed the national average, mostly up to 10%.
The businessman assesses that, faced with an inflation rate of only 0.10% in the first half and a projected 1.6% for the year, the prices of materials have nearly quintupled this inflationary variation.
– It is completely unreasonable at a moment when all of society has been called to unite for health, everyone helping, donating food baskets to the most needy, and companies reducing salaries and working hours, for one sector to raise prices much above inflation. It did not sit well – lamented Obenaus.
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