wild places | wild happenings | wild news
make a difference for our wild places

home | links | search the site
  all articles latest | past | articles by topics | search wildnews
wild news on wildsingapore
  Channel NewsAsia 1 Feb 07
Government to release concreting sand from stock pile from Feb 1
By Farah Abdul Rahim

Business Times 1 Feb 07
Govt to release sand stockpile from today
Price set to drop to $20-$30 per tonne soon from current $40 high
By Uma Shankari

Channel NewsAsia 29 Jan 07
Consignment of land sand from source outside Indonesia arrives in S'pore

SINGAPORE: The first consignment of land sand from a source outside of Indonesia arrived in Singapore's Jurong Port on Monday.

This followed efforts by the Housing and Development Board to diversify its supply of basic construction materials by procuring land sand from regional sources other than Indonesia.

The Building and Construction Authority is working with land sand importers on this. The government will also be releasing sand from its stockpile to cushion any transitional disruption to its supply - all this with the aim of helping the industry cope with the sudden announcement on sand export ban by Indonesia last week.

BCA says it will be briefing key stakeholders on the details of the stockpile release over the next few days. It is also advising the industry to adopt alternative construction materials to reduce the need for land sand. - CNA /dt

Business Times Singapore 30 Jan 07
Sand shipment from outside Indonesia arrives
By Uma Shankari

(SINGAPORE) The government said yesterday the first big shipment of land sand from outside Indonesia has arrived - as the search continues for new sources after Singapore's near neighbour announced a ban on sand exports.

The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) said efforts by the Housing Board to diversify supplies of land sand paid off yesterday with the first consignment of 400,000 tonnes from a 'regional source' arriving at Jurong Port. The shipment is expected to be the first of many, said BCA.

'The quality of the concreting sand from these sources has been tested and meets Singapore's standards and requirements,' it said. 'With these new sources, the industry can meet its immediate requirements.'

The moves come as Indonesia's ban on sand exports causes slowdowns at construction sites here.

Contractors say the price of land sand has risen in the past few days and supply has tightened.

Singapore has been getting almost all of its land sand from Indonesia, which says it has imposed a ban for environmental reasons and to protect its borders. Land sand is used to produce ready-mixed concrete for the construction industry.

While exporters have until Feb 5 to send sand from Indonesia, shortages and slowdowns at construction sites were being seen late last week.

And, as of yesterday, the price of ready-mix concrete had climbed about 30 per cent.

When the Singapore government announced on Jan 24 that Indonesia was banning exports of sand, industry players estimated that overall construction costs here could climb 3-10 per cent. Construction costs typically make up about 15-25 per cent of development costs.

BCA yesterday reiterated the government's intention to release sand it has stored. 'While opening up new sources of supply, the government will also be releasing sand from its stockpile to cushion any transitional disruption to the supply,' BCA said. 'This will help the industry to cope with the sudden announcement on sand export ban by Indonesia last week. BCA will be briefing the key stakeholders on the details of stockpile release in the next few days.'

BCA also continued to urge contractors and developers to use alternative construction methods and materials to reduce the need for concreting sand.

Singapore's largest developer, CapitaLand, said yesterday its business has not been hit by higher sand costs.

Channel NewsAsia 1 Feb 07
Government to release concreting sand from stock pile from Feb 1
By Farah Abdul Rahim

SINGAPORE: The Singapore government will release concreting sand from its stockpile from Thursday to make up for any immediate shortfall in supply as a result of Indonesia's ban on all land sand exports.

The Building and Construction Authority says this will help stabilise sand supply and prices over the next few months, while the industry makes the necessary adjustments.

However, it expects the price of sand to rise due to higher transportation costs involved in shipping sand from distant sources.

BCA has called on developers to work out a cost-sharing arrangement with contractors and concrete suppliers to cope with the increase. Government agencies will also take the lead to bear part of the increase in the cost of sand for its existing projects. - CNA /dt

Business Times 1 Feb 07
Govt to release sand stockpile from today
Price set to drop to $20-$30 per tonne soon from current $40 high
By Uma Shankari

(SINGAPORE) The government will release sand from its stockpile from today to make up for any immediate shortfall in the supply of building sand, it said yesterday.

The price of sand, which has climbed from about $20 a tonne last year to more than $40 a tonne yesterday, will be fixed by the government for the next few months, the Singapore Contractors Association Ltd (SCAL) said.

With the price fixing, the cost of sand is expected to drop to $20-$30 a tonne soon, before inching up gradually after a few weeks.

The announcements follow reports of work disruptions at construction sites here as the price of ready-mixed concrete climbs and supply continues to tighten after Indonesia said last week it was banning the export of land sand.

Singapore used to get almost all of its land sand, which is used to make concrete, from Indonesia. Since the ban, the price of ready-mixed concrete has jumped by about 50 per cent to about $120 per cubic metre, from about $80 per cubic metre before.

The government's stockpile is set to give the industry price and supply stability for the next few months while allowing it to make adjustments, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) said yesterday.

For the longer term, the industry regulator is looking for new sources of sand. In the meantime, industry players are working together to come up with a cost sharing formula to help contractors and concrete suppliers hit by increased sand prices.

Both BCA and SCAL urged developers to bear a significant part of the increased construction cost since the price rise is caused by factors beyond the control of contractors.

Typically, developers lock in construction costs in the contract, which means that the burden of increased raw material costs falls almost fully on contractors.

The BCA said: 'As contractors and concrete suppliers with ongoing projects may not be contractually protected against this sudden increase in price, developers are urged to work out a cost-sharing arrangement with the contractors and concrete suppliers. Government agencies will take the lead to bear part of the increase in the cost of sand for its existing projects.'

SCAL is in favour of employers and developers bearing the greater part of the construction cost increase as construction companies are less equipped to handle price increases than developers, who are able to pass on rising costs to home-buyers.

Construction companies welcomed the release of the government's sand stock, hoping that it will bring down the price of ready-mixed concrete quickly. 'If they (the government) release the stockpile, then it will definitely help with the shortage,' said chief executive officer of construction company KSH Holdings, Choo Chee Onn,

Even with the release of the government's stock and new sand sources, sand prices will not fall to pre-ban levels. The BCA said the price of sand is expected to rise due to higher costs involved in shipping sand from distant sources.

Industry players also said that the sand price fixed by the government could climb after a few weeks. Contractors have said that sand suppliers from new sources such as the Philippines have contacted them and offered sand, but at higher prices.

BT understands that industry body SCAL has asked companies to alert the organisation about any profiteering. Construction stocks continued to take a beating yesterday, with the Singapore Exchange's Construction Equities Index shedding 16.9 points, or 3.1 per cent, to close at 531.3 points. The index has dropped some 7.6 per cent since news of the sand ban on Jan 24.
links
Sandy Situation a huge pile of articles about sand, reclamation and Singapore on the leafmonkey blog; also on the environmental news blog

Related articles on Singapore: general environmental issues and wild shores
about the site | email ria
  News articles are reproduced for non-profit educational purposes.
 

website©ria tan 2003 www.wildsingapore.com