Major Impact of Covid-19 on Construction Concrete Cement Industry

As the whole world is in the wage of shutting down, Malawi is no different and now has an increasing number of COVID-19 cases. Well, as the number is increasing and the country’s work has also come to a halt, it’s affecting every industry. From the construction industry to the industrial factories & stores, and people are coming out only for the essentials. 

As every industry is not in working, the construction concrete cement is in no regular demand as well. Many owners who sell the ready mix concrete, or construction concrete cement, they reported that there are no new orders and no new stocks. 

As some construction projects are delayed, some cancelled; the most impacted industry in all this will stay construction cement manufacturers. As the cement is the second most used thing in the world after water, a sudden break in the same can take the manufacturers towards ruin.

The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak throughout the world has been a melt-down for the industrialists, manufacturers, labour, and for all those people who used to work on a daily basis and supported their own and family’s lives. Well, with the learning of the COVID-19 crises, it can be seen that everyone is somehow dependent on another. The factories manufacture goods, based on orders, labour worked to construct someone’s home to run their house expenses, and so on. So, when now everything has come to bottleneck, the cement industry is not only the one that is affected, but every single being is affected by this crisis.  

Here Are Some Major Impacts On The Construction Concrete Cement Industry

The post corona virus pandemic has made a considerable dip in the construction industry. So, as cement is one of the primary materials for the construction concrete, the cement industry is facing a fall too. The dip in the cement industry is because the demand for the cement has dropped ever since the announcement of COVID-19 disease has been announced. The labour and other staff to abide by the rule of social distancing, the availability of skilled labour has dropped too. However, there are many more impacts that the construction concrete cement industry is facing. 

Skilled labour is very hard to find – As this corona virus is a serious matter, the laborers have mostly returned to their homes, and the ones who are here, are reluctant to join the work back. The workers taking the precautionary measures reduces the availability of skilled labour, and the ones who are available for the job, are mostly inexperienced and do not know the work accurately. 

Transportation – As many borders are sealed, and the transportation is banned, even if the concrete construction in Lilongwe or other different places needs ready-mix concrete, it’s becoming difficult to get there. Moreover, transportation requires drivers and labour to drive the trucks and labour to load and unload the stuff. But as there is a shortage in both and to abide by the government regulations, it’s an enormous mess to take cement from one place to another. 

Funds are in shortage – As this quarantine has brought many financial challenges in front of people, the constructors and builders are restricting their hands in the spend at the moment. The builders and construction contractors that are with the weak balance sheet are on the cost-cutting and are avoiding the new projects. As the projects are not in progress any longer, the demand for the construction concrete cement is getting low too. 

The fewer funds the builders and constructors have, is directly impacting the demand of the cement.

The uncertainty of jobs – As many companies are cost-cutting and many companies that are not in the position to handle the expenses of their employees, is keeping them in the hold, or are cutting the salaries to some extent.

So, when there is uncertainty in the jobs, and the people first want to suffice their regular needs and want to save some for their future, they are cancelling their booking for homes, and they are withdrawing their plans of buying the new ones. So now they are not paying to the builders, not purchasing homes, which is making less money in the pockets of builders, they tend to stop the projects, and this affected the cement and concrete industry. 

Health & safety measures of employee – However, every person out there is taking precautions, and the companies that are working are and have to take the precautionary measures for their employees too, for their safety. So they are not allowing all the employees to come and are practicing the work from home thing more. Now, this is leading towards less productivity, and as the construction works require a lot of labour, and the precaution in the dust area to not touch the mouth, nose, and eyes is not very possible. Hence, no construction work undertaking leads to any demand for cement. 

Travel bans and quarantines – The travel bans restrict the movement of the people, and not all labour stays near to the construction sites. And the ones who are quarantined are not allowed to move out. So the construction work without the labour has become stalled, and so as the demand for cement. 

Legal obligations – Many legal obligations have to be followed by all companies, businesses, and other places. If there is a case in around one mile of the building, the area is sealed. And if there is work going on in the safe zones, then the minimal staff is allowed. However, construction is not about less or limited labour, instead, they need a group of workforce. 

The stock market & lenders – As the stock market is now not stable, and it has caused anxiety in the heart of every moneylender because no recovery is foreseen yet. So raising funds from a lender is getting complicated, and with low labour, and funds construction work is near to impossible. 

As money lenders are worried about putting up their investments because of the unstable market, every work out there is suffering.  However, the COVID-19 is not the right thing that happened to the world, but what this virus thought is, every single business, company, consumers, manufacturers, laborers, machines, and every living being is connected through some of the other string. And most importantly, wellness of every human is of utmost importance, and to secure wellness, everything can be spared.