Tough season to build

PIC: The increase in prices of construction materials will affect the real estate industry. (File photo)

CONSTRUCTION | PRICES

The construction industry has been hit by a sudden rise in the cost of basic building materials.

Solomon Kasujja, a real estate agent in Gayaza, Wakiso district, cautions Ugandans who are undertaking construction projects to revisit their budgets since prices have greatly changed.

The increase in prices of construction materials will automatically affect the industry as the cost of building residential and commercial buildings is already shooting up," he says.

Similarly, Titus Baguma, another real estate dealer in Kampala, says some project owners are being forced to abandon construction or postpone the completion schedules to cope with the costs.

Prices have shot up

According to Muhammad Nsereko, a civil engineer with 3m Design and Construction, prices of cement, concrete materials such as sand, gravel and steel bars have all increased.

The price of cement is now between sh34,000 and sh35,000 per 50 kilogramme bag, up from sh28,000 at the beginning of this year.

"In less than two months, the price of cement has affected us greatly. It increases nearly every day. It has increased from sh28,000 to sh35,000 and if nothing is done, it will skyrocket to sh50,000 by the end of the year," Nsereko says.

He adds that the prices of iron bars have also increased. Size T16 has risen from sh45,000 to sh60,000. Consequently, type T12 iron bars that went for sh25,000 rose to sh28,000 at the end of last year and are currently at sh40,000 each. Expanded metal costs sh40,000, up from sh33,000.

"A few months ago, we used to buy a sack of nails at sh160,000 before it increased to sh170,000 at the end of last year. It now goes for sh220,000," he says.

In addition, the prices of timber have gone up. Timothy Mukisa from House of Timber in Mukono district, says eucalyptus timber size 4X2 costs sh50,000, up from sh45,000 a few months ago.  That of 3X2 goes for sh45,000, up from 35,000 and 6X2 costs 65,000, up from 55,000.

Eucalyptus size 8X2 that was at sh95,000 is now at sh12,000. Mukisa says the case is the same for other types of timber, such as pine. Pine size 4x2 costs sh7,000, up from sh55,000, while size 3X2 goes for sh6,000 from sh4,500. Pine size 6X2 costs sh8,000, up from sh65,000, while ‘Kirundu' costs sh8,000, up from sh6,000.

According to Mukisa, pine facial boards size 9X1 costs between sh18,000 and sh20,000.