Brickmakers face losses due to lower demand from construction industry

Brickmakers are facing losses due to lower demand in Arakan State amid the suspension of many construction projects as prices for construction materials and cement are rising.

By DMG 25 Feb 2022

DMG Newsroom
25 February 2022, Sittwe

Brickmakers are facing losses due to lower demand in Arakan State amid the suspension of many construction projects as prices for construction materials and cement are rising.

Brick sales have fallen by 50% in some cases, and the price of bricks is also down, putting brickmakers in the red, according to Ko Thein Maung, a brickmaker in Sittwe Township’s Pyar Lae Chaung village.

“I could sell 100,000 bricks in 10 days previously, but now I can sell about 50,000 in the same period,” Ko Thein Maung told DMG.

Some brickmakers report having to borrow money to pay labour charges because they cannot sell enough bricks to meet payroll.

Meanwhile, other costs are rising. A brickmaker from Aung Mingala village in Sittwe Township told DMG that the price of a truckload of firewood to bake bricks has risen from K280,000 to K350,000.

“Since the price of construction materials has increased, people are suspending construction, and we cannot sell our bricks,” he added.

Falling brick prices are being attributed to a large number of brickmakers churning out product, with a brick that previously sold for K140 now down to K115, brickmakers said.