Cement and steel are the backbone of the construction industry in the country and the rise in cost of building materials has forced constructors to hold ongoing projects.
The rising cost of building materials in Kenya has pushed construction costs by an average of Sh3,000 per square metre.
The increase in cost has been attributed by the disruption in the global market on the ongoing Russia/Ukraine crisis and the weakening shilling, with some cement, steel and paint firms announcing a price surge of at least two per cent.
Cement manufacturers have blamed the rise in cement prices on higher costs for raw materials and inputs.
In Nairobi, the most common cement is Simba, retailing for between Sh680 and Sh750.
Vendors were selling steel bars for the following prices: D8 – Sh780; D10 – Sh1,150; D12 – Sh1,650; D16 – Sh2,750; and D20 – Sh4,850.
However, in January, these were the prices of the same products: D8 – Sh450; D10 – Sh600; D12 – Sh900; D16 – Sh1050; and D20 – Sh2500.
Steel is a vital component in the construction industry, used to make roofing sheets, reinforcement bars, steel beams and columns, windows and doors, among other products.
Any upward change in the price of steel, therefore, means a higher cost of projects.
The prices of steel in the international market have moved up by about $135 (Sh15,255) a tonne and are moving up since the conflict started in the last week of February.
A section of developers said they may be forced to pass on the higher costs of construction should the trend persist.
Russia and Ukraine account for nearly 20 per cent of the global export of steel. In the aftermath of the war, the price of steel has gone up and this is tipped to affect construction prices, said some developers.
Speaking to a local TV station the manufacturers said the costs of raw materials continue to increase disproportionally against what they can absorb. This has forced them to pass some of the cost to the market.
“We have been forced to increase our prices because of high taxation, the cost of electricity is high, the fuel price is high, and importation of raw materials like concrete admixtures has also risen.
Everything is just rising,” said a representative of the Kenya Federation of Master Builders.
Concrete admixtures are natural or manufactured chemicals or additives used in concrete mixing to enhance specific properties of the fresh or hardened concrete, such as workability, durability or early and final strength.
According to the representative, cement firms are struggling to compete with counterfeit cheap cement available in the local market.
The drastic increase in the price of essential products in construction like cement, iron sheets and deformed steel bars have forced many to halt their projects or dig deeper into their pockets.
