December 03, 2008

Dominican builders want imported steel and cement

Dominican Today reported that Dominican Housing Builders and Promoters Association asked the Dominican government to authorize international tenders to import 1 million bags of cement and that same number of quintals of rebar, to confront the rise in the prices of materials in last three months, which they say is from speculation and as much as 66%.

Mr Jaime González president of Acoprovi said that the companies which market those materials have raised prices to levels which don’t guarantee the industry’s stability, affecting employees and the country’s economy. He said that rebar and cement are 65% of the cost of constructions.

He noted that in November a quintal of rebar cost XCD 1,500, compared with XCD 2,400 now, whereas cement was XCD 5 and is now XCD 7.2 per bag.