Major steel manufactures have increased prices by about 7 percent, citing rise in the price of raw materials. As steel holds 29 percent weightage in home construction, rise in steel prices will increase construction cost by about 2.5 percent, according to contractors.
Similarly, the government ban on cutting trees and transport and sales of timber has almost doubled wood prices - one of the main construction materials - in the market. As wood holds 10.5 percent weightage in overall construction cost, rise in wood prices raises construction cost by about 10 percent.
Price of steel has increased from Rs 62-63 per kg to Rs 67-68 per kg in the last couple of months. “We have increased steel prices by Rs 5-6 per kg due to rise in the prices of raw materials,” Sahil Agrawal, managing director of Jagadamba Steels, told Republica.
There is a difference of only about a rupee or two in the prices of steels of different brands like Panchakanya, Hulas and Sakha, among others.
Wood prices have gone through the roof in recent months due to the ban on transportation and sales of timber by the government. While the price of Jungle Sissau has climbed to as high as Rs 5,000 per cubic feet, the price of Sal wood has doubled to about Rs 4,000 cubic feet.
“The cost of home construction will increase further as the price of cement -one of the major construction materials - is expected to increase in the near future as production has been affected due to lengthy power cuts,” said Roshan Dhital of RD Nirman Samagri Suppliers.
Agrawal told Republica that they were increasing cement prices very soon as increasing load-shedding has hardly hit productions.
At present Jagadamba, Brij and Maruti cements are selling for Rs 590, Rs 580 and Rs 615 per sack (50kg). Similarly, state-owned brands Hetauda and Udaypur cements are selling for Rs 700 and Rs 725 per sack respectively.
However, price of bricks has come down in the market bringing some cheers to people. As this is the main production season, some brick kilns have already lowered prices while others are preparing to revise prices once the new productions come to market.
“The price of the best quality ´A´ grade bricks has come down by Rs 500 to Rs 9,500 per 1,000 units. Similarly, the prices of best quality ´B´ grade bricks and low quality bricks have decreased by Rs 400 each to Rs 8,100 and Rs 7,800 per 1,000 units respectively,” said Tirtha Man Damaru, owner of Choma Ganesh Itta Bhatta Udhyog.
The prices of aggregates and sand, however, have remained constant at Rs 55 and Rs 40 per cubic feet respectively.
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