Recession: Building materials record low sales
The economic recession affecting the country has led to decrease in the buying of building materials, Daily Trust investigation has revealed. Experts attributed the low sales and increase in the prices of some building materials to fact that most of the building materials are imported and the steady rise of the dollar against the naira. […]
The economic recession affecting the country has led to decrease in the buying of building materials, Daily Trust investigation has revealed.
Experts attributed the low sales and increase in the prices of some building materials to fact that most of the building materials are imported and the steady rise of the dollar against the naira.
Chairman of Estate Surveyors and Valuer Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVARBON) William Odudu said that the recession has also led to massive loss of jobs within the industry.
He said, “The economic recession is a rain that drenched everybody. Because when there is no money in the system, one of the most noticeable areas is in the building industry. Not only as individuals, even organisations. Most highbrow properties now are now vacant because they have relocated to lesser neighborhoods because of money scarcity. A lot of people are affected, but then every profession must see that during recession you must not pack it up and say you’re going home. You must be able to manage it because recession will come and go.”
He called on government to engage the services of professional bodies in the industry both in the private and public sector to protect the sector from total collapse in the face of the recession.
Mrs Florence Onyeka who sells aluminum doors and windows at Jabi district of Abuja told Daily Trust that the low sales being recorded in the sector has never been so bad.
Onyeka who has been in the business for over 10 years, cited scarcity of foreign exchange coupled with unstable rates to dwindling sales.
She lamented how the situation has caused a serious hike in prices of her wares, thereby making it difficult for her numerous customers to buy. She said, “At the moment, the increment is almost five times what the prices used to be across all commodities.
She said that interlock luster for windows which she used to sell for N1200, are now sold for, N2800 even as she lamented the increase influx of substandard products.
For Edward Gamadi who sells POP and paints said, “Before recession I used to sell a bag of POP for N2350, but now the modest you can get it is N4100. That is almost 100% increase. My paint used to be sold for around, N1200/1300 but now it is N2100.” The turnover has been generally affected and basically our major problem has been over dependence on imported materials when we can produce locally and ease the pressure on foreign exchange. “Fillers are imported from Kenya even when we have them in large quantities here but due to epileptic power supply and an abysmal irrigation, we are leaving them to waste.”
Mr Uzor Uzochuckwu whose building materials supply business has similarly taken a nosedive, lamented that the new price regime has been a frustrating development.
Uzochukwu said that TV guard that sells for N1000 have increased to N1800.
“And for a pack of white bulb that used to sell for N2500, same goes for N5000 now. He went on to say that, a roll of wire imported from China is now for N7000 as against, N3700 before the recession while, a 1.0 horsepower ground force water pump imported from Denmark is now N280,000 as against N105000 before now,” he said.
He said that most marketers are now importing lesser quality in order to beat the odds at all cost.
“Ironically, the prices of both original and fake are moving closer by the day due to increase in demand,” he said.
Ubi Samuel Iwara, who imports aluminum products, roof tiles, and aluminum profiles said the recession has drastically reduced their purchasing power.
He said, “It does not matter how high you take the price, you might just still lose at the end of the day because of fluctuating dollar price. My annual profit has been affected because we use the little profit to service capital, hence no room for expansion.”
“To get out of this economic quagmire, all hands must be on deck and all importers must come together to start local production as raw materials for these items abound in large quantities in Nigeria. All the government should do to aid this process is provide a very stable power supply; otherwise recession will not leave any time soon,’’ he said.
Virtually every sector is feeling the pinch and it is not so hard to figure out why. But, the question on the lips of many like Ikechuckwu Nweke, a plumbing material retailer is, how long will this last ? For him, a big pile of debt is already giving him sleepless nights, and without an improvement in their fortunes, many may be forced to take to crime.