display
Leipzig (dpa) - The construction industry association Ost expects a further increase in construction prices as a result of the corona pandemic.
After a moderate price increase for services in the main construction trade of 1.3 percent in 2020, at least 2.0 percent should be expected in 2021, the association based in Leipzig announced on Thursday.
The reasons given were the current situation on the raw material markets and supply bottlenecks that lead to construction delays.
«The construction industry has been struggling with significant price increases for building materials since the beginning of the year.
Steel, copper, bitumen and insulation materials are particularly affected, ”it said.
Within a year, the cost of pig iron and steel rose by 17.5 percent as of March, while the price of copper was a fifth higher than in the previous year.
Insulation materials have risen by five percent, bitumen by a fifth since the beginning of the year.
"This development harbors the risk that the equity base, which has been painstakingly built up in the construction industry in recent years, will melt away with falling margins and the risk of insolvency in the construction industry will rise again," explained the association.
display
At the moment, many building material suppliers only offer very short binding periods, in some cases only daily prices, it said.
These price jumps presented companies with immense problems when calculating new orders and turned every calculation into an unpredictable risk.
“The risk is currently one-sided on the contractor's side.
Particularly in the case of construction projects that are running for a long time, we therefore ask the client to agree so-called material price sliding clauses in order to achieve a fair balance between contractors and clients in the event of any cost increases, ”emphasized Robert Momberg, General Manager of the association.
According to its own information, the East Construction Industry Association represents the interests of 260 construction companies with around 20,000 employees in the states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.
display
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210422-99-311863 / 2
Construction Industry Association East