Some building materials saw new increases during January compared to the previous month, ranging between 5.5 and 8 percent on various products, most notably concrete, cement and iron, which means that the cost will increase in the same proportions for those who build their homes.
The daily said the concrete prices were the highest among building materials during the past month, which increased by about 8 percent (two dinars per meter), bringing the price to 24.5 dinars, compared to 22.5 dinars at the end of December 2022, reports Al-Rai daily.
According to experts, a plot of land measuring 400 square meters needs about 550 meters of concrete. Its cost at the end of December 2022 was about 12,375 dinars, while it increased at the end of last January by about 1,100 dinars to 13,475 dinars.
Iron came in second place, as the price of a ton increased at the end of last month by about 7.8 percent to 207 dinars, compared to 192 dinars in December, meaning that each ton of iron increased by about 15 dinars, which means that the cost of the 400-square-meter plot of iron increased. At about 750 dinars, as it needs about 50 tons. Its cost was 9,600 dinars in December, and it increased to 10,350 dinars at the end of January.
As for cement, the price of a bag increased by about 5.5 percent and approximately 60 fils, from 1.08 dinars at the end of December to 1.14 dinars at the end of January. Since the 400-meter plot needs 300 bags of cement, the cost of the cement you need has increased by about 18 dinars over the past month.
There was no significant increase in the prices of bricks last month, as a thousand grains of bricks are still at a price of 110 dinars, and since the plot of 400 meters needs 25 thousand bricks, the total cost of what the coupon requires of this commodity amounts to 2750 dinars.
Based on these numbers, the increase in the prices of 3 building materials raised the cost of building materials needed by the 400-meter plot by about 1,868 dinars, from 28,619 dinars at the end of December 2022 to 30,487 dinars at the end of last January.
For his part, the CEO of the Building Consultant for Contracting Company, Abdullah Al-Hamad, attributed the rise in the prices of some building and construction materials to the increase in the prices of raw materials due to the repercussions of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and the inflation of commodity prices in the markets, in addition to the high cost of shipping.
He explained that the increase is also driven by the high demand for these materials, especially since about 24.5 thousand plots are currently being built in each of Al-Mutlaa, South Abdullah Al-Mubarak and South Khaitan, in addition to the fact that the supply of plots exceeds the ability of construction companies to cover them (construct them), which increases the cost.