The construction market has been experiencing a sharp deficit of essential materials for the second month now. On October 1, the government even urgently canceled import duties on cement, but it seems that the main issue is not the lack of cement at all, writes Your Beloved Economic Edition on its Telegram channel.
Statistical data for September is still unavailable, but judging by the August figures, cement imports this year, even under the existing tariffs and restrictions, were setting records, while local production remained at last year's level.
There seem to be unexpected issues with sand and gravel; extraction volumes reached record levels in June, just shy of 900 thousand tons, and have since plateaued at that level.
This, apparently, is already insufficient for such construction rates. Some readers report that they have to wait weeks for sand, and the process can only be expedited with cash and at prices that are double those of last year.
So it seems that the problem has arisen right here. Now it will be interesting to see how quickly it can be resolved.
In a month, it will be clear how this situation will affect construction rates in September.
