Singapore, It was deja vu for the building industry here, as Vietnam suspended sand exports to Singapore on worries that the pace of extraction would damage the Mekong Delta.
The move come just months after Cambodia banned overseas sales of sand in May on environmental concerns - a developing that, according to Bloomberg , sent Vietnam sand export to Singapore surging.
But this source, too, ran dry when the export paperwork was stopped on Tuesday, according to the head of the Ministry of Construction's Department for Construction Materials, Le Van Toi.
The Construction industry here has been anticipating this since news heralding the move broke in mid-September.
With most sand imports previously coming from Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam according to suppliers, this caused some worries.
Still, no impact has been felt yet, and players do not expect as drastic a hit as that Singapore took in 2007 when Indonesia banned sand exports, increasing construction costs by 1 per cent and creating a bottleneck in building timelines.
"If no sand is coming through from Vietnam, then surely there will be some shortage - but it would not be as acute as (in 2007) as we know have alternative sources and materials like quarry dust," said Dr Sujit Ghosh, president of the Ready Mix Concrete Association.
Back then, the supply crunch created by the Indonesian ban had seen concrete and sand prices roughly triple, as Singapore sought out alternative, distant sources.
Another difference between 2007 and now: "In 2007, the market was hit quite substantially as there were big ticket tenders out in the marketplace like the Integrated Resorts," noted Cushman and Wakefield Singapore managing director Donald Han.
"Now, there are hardly any billion-dollar projects, even the construction of the Sports Hub has been deferred; residential projects are not big ticket items and will not create competition for the sand."
Construction costs have come down by some 20 to 25 per cent since the peak in mid - 2008, he added.
A sand supplier whom MediaCorp spoke to, nonetheless, reckons "there will be an impact" - he estimated that about 25 per cent of sand supply comes from Vietnam each month. (TODAYonline - Singapore)
The move come just months after Cambodia banned overseas sales of sand in May on environmental concerns - a developing that, according to Bloomberg , sent Vietnam sand export to Singapore surging.
But this source, too, ran dry when the export paperwork was stopped on Tuesday, according to the head of the Ministry of Construction's Department for Construction Materials, Le Van Toi.
The Construction industry here has been anticipating this since news heralding the move broke in mid-September.
With most sand imports previously coming from Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam according to suppliers, this caused some worries.
Still, no impact has been felt yet, and players do not expect as drastic a hit as that Singapore took in 2007 when Indonesia banned sand exports, increasing construction costs by 1 per cent and creating a bottleneck in building timelines.
"If no sand is coming through from Vietnam, then surely there will be some shortage - but it would not be as acute as (in 2007) as we know have alternative sources and materials like quarry dust," said Dr Sujit Ghosh, president of the Ready Mix Concrete Association.
Back then, the supply crunch created by the Indonesian ban had seen concrete and sand prices roughly triple, as Singapore sought out alternative, distant sources.
Another difference between 2007 and now: "In 2007, the market was hit quite substantially as there were big ticket tenders out in the marketplace like the Integrated Resorts," noted Cushman and Wakefield Singapore managing director Donald Han.
"Now, there are hardly any billion-dollar projects, even the construction of the Sports Hub has been deferred; residential projects are not big ticket items and will not create competition for the sand."
Construction costs have come down by some 20 to 25 per cent since the peak in mid - 2008, he added.
A sand supplier whom MediaCorp spoke to, nonetheless, reckons "there will be an impact" - he estimated that about 25 per cent of sand supply comes from Vietnam each month. (TODAYonline - Singapore)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment