Prices of building materials continue to rise

Prices of building and construction materials keep rising and because of the war in Ukraine the markets for building materials in Bulgaria are experiences shortages of basic commodities such as steel, profiles and reinforcing iron. Because of the drastic increase in all building materials, many projects are delayed and some have even been stopped. Off-plan purchases of properties are declining and finished apartments will become more expensive, the industry explains.

Building materials have risen on average by between 50% and 100% over the past year, and because of the war in Ukraine, high fuel and natural gas prices, goods are unlikely to get cheaper soon, a shop in Blagoevgrad (South-Western Bulgaria) explained.

"Timber, for example, has become very expensive. The price used to be 300 BGN, now it's 600 BGN, and we sell it more expensive and we will look to import from abroad and keep our business going," said Dimitar Krastev, owner of a building materials store.

All building materials are more expensive, but for iron, which we import mainly from Russia and Ukraine, the price increase is the largest.

"The price went up by 2 - 3 fold, 200 - 300% already. Today's prices are between 3 - 3,50 BGN. Compared to a year ago, when it was 1 BGN, you can calculate for yourself how many times it has risen. This leads to an increase in the final construction product," said Petar Baikushev from the Construction Chamber-Blagoevgrad.

The industry estimates that construction has increased its cost by an average of 30 to 40% due to more expensive materials. Companies that signed off-plan deals a year ago are suffering huge losses.

There are colleagues who have even stopped building for the time being. It is difficult to invest now, the situation is very complicated and very difficult. There is no market price, this causes speculative intentions. It's a complicated, difficult process and no one can say how far prices will go," said Baikushev.

In Blagoevgrad, off-plan deals for purchase of properties a year ago were concluded for 400 euros per square meter, now the price is no less than 600 euros per square meter.

"Properties, such as finished apartments, will go up, and the properties themselves, such as land, I think there is no reason for the prices to be raised, because during a war it is usually the prices of foods, fuels, energy carriers, etc., that go up, the prices of properties should go down, but the prices for new construction cannot fall," Baikushev added.

All the building material factories in the country run on natural gas, and as its price is rising, the prices of building materials inevitably go up. Even if the war in Ukraine ends soon, the supply chains for materials are unlikely to be restored so quickly, the construction industry representatives say. And how much the inflation will go up and what the prices will be next year - no one can say.

Чуйте последните новини, където и да сте!
Последвайте ни във Facebook и Instagram
Следете и канала на БНТ в YouTube
Вече може да ни гледате и в TikTok
Намерете ни в Google News