May 8, 2008

Bahrain’s construction industry faces crisis

Acute shortage of building materials pushes prices up

MANAMA, Bahrain

Rising costs and shortages of construction materials have put Bahrain’s construction industry in crisis, reports the Gulf Daily News.

Prices of all building materials — including sand, cement, aggregates and steel — have gone up and there is an acute shortage in supply, said Samir Nass, Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry contractors’ committee chairman.

“Bahrain imports all these materials mainly from other Gulf states. We get the aggregates from the UAE, cement from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and steel from Saudi Arabia and Qatar,” said Nass.

Nass attributes the shortages to rising demand as a result of a development boom across the Gulf driven by higher oil prices.

DCN News Services

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