Construction companies in the country have sufficient stock of building materials for the coming months and arrangements are underway to find new import destinations and alternative routes to bring shipments, say industry sources.
Also arrangements are underway to find suitable local suppliers of building materials. “We usually bring building materials in large stock. There are stocks at least for another few months. By then we will find suitable countries and companies to import building materials,” said a civil engineer at a company which handles some major construction projects.
“Only some building materials were imported from the blockade countries. Other materials like used to create a hidden void for the passage of mechanical and electrical services are brought in from other countries. Some materials are imported from Europe destinations, but those were coming via the blockade countries. In such cases we need only to find alternative routes,” he added. According to industry experts, steel and cement are the major building materials required for construction. And the demand for concrete is fulfilled by the Qatar National Cement Company.
“We get cement from the Qatar National Cement Company, for steel and some other materials we are looking for alternative countries. A quality evaluation and approval is needed to be obtained for every materiel we use for building construction. For time being we have sufficient materials. Before the stocks end will find new importers and get the approvals. Therefore there won’t be any delay in completing projects,” said a Quantity Surveyor.
Earlier, Qatar Primary Materials Company (QPMC) had confirmed that it has sufficient stock of gabbro, fine sand and limestone material for one year. Also last month a meeting was held with representatives of many companies importing primary materials in Qatar to find new countries to import materials. According to Essa Al Hammadi CEO of QPMC, QPMC is working on a strategy is to increase the strategic stock of gabbro and limestone and the company has succeeded to have a stock, which currently stands at about 14 million tonnes, of which 11 million tonnes of gabbro and 3 million tonnes of limestone.
