Deputy Minister of Construction Bui Pham Khanh said that in the fourth quarter of 2017, sand prices tended to decrease by 8-15% thanks to management and increased propaganda for effective and economical use, and anti-speculation.
This morning, December 27, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue, Head of the Steering Committee for Price Management, chaired the year-end meeting, assessing the price management work in 2017, proposing directions, scenarios and solutions to control inflation below 4% in 2018 according to the Resolution of the National Assembly.
One of the groups of goods mentioned was the group of construction materials. According to the report at the meeting, the price of construction materials in the fourth quarter basically decreased, in which the price of construction sand, cement and steel prices all decreased. At the same time, the price of exterior, interior and tiling materials did not increase.
Particularly, construction sand - a commodity whose price has shown difficulty in control since the beginning of the year - has also been focused on by the Steering Committee and the Ministry of Construction. Deputy Minister of Construction Bui Pham Khanh said that in the fourth quarter of 2017, the price of sand tended to decrease by 8-15% thanks to management and increased propaganda for effective and economical use, and anti-speculation.
The Ministry of Construction said it has coordinated with the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to implement Project No. 452 on processing gypsum and cast iron from thermal power plants, cast iron and steel plants, and metallurgy plants to use for landfill instead of sand. The Ministry of Construction also abolished the standard on sand for landfill (not using sand for landfill) that has existed for decades to avoid increasing costs and reduce waste. "In the upcoming construction of the North-South Expressway and Long Thanh Airport, other materials can be used for landfill, not necessarily sand," said Mr. Khanh.
The Deputy Prime Minister requested: “There absolutely cannot be any sudden changes like in 2017, especially with large projects implemented in 2018 such as Long Thanh airport project, North-South expressway. The Ministry of Construction adjusts the standards and regulations for ash and slag of metallurgical plants to replace sand for filling. The Chairmen of the Provincial People's Committees must manage well the soil and rock mines to avoid speculation. Where management is good, production will be normal. If it is not good, violations will be strictly handled, not affecting the supply and demand of sand in the market.”