Government to release granite from stockpile to ease shortage

[princess_morbucks]

http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/money/story/government-release-granite-stockpile-ease-shortage-20140204

The Government will release granite from the national stockpile from Feb 5 to help ease a temporary shortage, said the Building and Construction Authority (BCA).
Main contractors who have ongoing projects with concreting work will be able to get some relief.
The temporary shortage of granite stems from Indonesia, as it stopped shipping granite aggregate to Singapore since Jan 10.
This happened around the same time as a government ban on global mineral exports on Jan 12.

[DC33_2008]

Construction cost will go up and up. More dry construction like use of gypsum board / glass panel for internal partition rather than blockwall and brickwall.:D
http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/money/story/government-release-granite-stockpile-ease-shortage-20140204

The Government will release granite from the national stockpile from Feb 5 to help ease a temporary shortage, said the Building and Construction Authority (BCA).
Main contractors who have ongoing projects with concreting work will be able to get some relief.
The temporary shortage of granite stems from Indonesia, as it stopped shipping granite aggregate to Singapore since Jan 10.
This happened around the same time as a government ban on global mineral exports on Jan 12.

[princess_morbucks]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/granite-supply-disruption/982598.html?cid=TWTCNA&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

SINGAPORE: The temporary disruption of granite supply from Indonesia is expected to have minimal impact on the building and construction industry in Singapore.
Industry players said that is because contractors are likely to have other regional sources of the material - such as Indochina and China - that they can count on to tide them over.
The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) said the construction industry has been diversifying its granite sources since 2007, when there was a similar disruption to the supply.
Kenneth Loo, first vice-president of the Singapore Contractors Association, said: “BCA had encouraged suppliers to procure from a distant source as part of their policy... it's very easy for us to ramp up supply to ease the shortage."
Mr Loo is also the executive director of Straits Construction Singapore.
Early last month, the Indonesian government imposed a global ban on a range of mineral exports that include forms of granite.
Contractors in Singapore cautioned that turning to alternative sources could lead to higher shipping costs, which could push up the price of granite slightly.
But they do not expect building projects in Singapore to be impeded.
They are also optimistic that supplies of granite from Indonesia will resume soon.
The BCA said the national granite stockpile will be released to main contractors who have ongoing projects requiring granite for concreting works, to mitigate the impact of the disruption.
HDB said on Wednesday that it does not foresee the disruption having a major impact on the progress and completion of its projects.
Mr Loo said: "Even though the situation is not that bad, actually the move by BCA to release the stockpile is actually very good. I would say it's a gesture that will put the confidence level back in place. People won't panic and there won't be any disruptions."


- CNA/xq