There has been a significant increase in the cost of raw materials used in construction. INEC measured prices of 54 products last year and this year. Only eight of them decreased or stayed the same. All the rest increased.
According to the Construction Price Index of the Buildings Sector, 11 construction products increased over 30% in price in just one year. One of them, copper tube, had a variation of 55% from April 2020 to April 2021.
Many factors came into play to create this situation. The coronavirus pandemic has caused mines and mills to close and also led to a high consumption of plastic in the medical industry, the exchange rate for the Dollar has increased, and there’s greater international demand for construction-related products.
Another factor is the cost of international freight. There’s been a reduction in the marine fleet that changed the cost of shipping a 40-foot container from China to Costa Rica from $2,500 to $11,000.
