Linesight, the Dublin-based construction consultancy firm, says rising inflation will affect multinational employers’ efforts to build or expand facilities in Ireland in 2022.
In its new Construction Insights and Commodity Report, the global surveyors’ firm highlights that rising energy costs, as well as the war in Ukraine, will affect prices for building materials such as timber, steel, and copper.
Linesight manages construction projects for industries in 24 countries. Clients include pharmaceutical manufacturers, and technology companies. The report states that life sciences projects and new data centres will suffer the effect of rising inflation on core construction materials. That’s in addition to bottlenecks in supplies, labour shortages, increased transport costs, and logistics problems.
As a result, the report states that Irish builders must increase their bids for contracts by 9.5%.
Steel rebar, used in commercial construction to reinforce concrete, is expected to rise 10.1% to EUR 819 per tonne. What’s more, flat steel prices will increase 8.7% to EUR 832 per tonne. The price of copper will increase 13.2% to EUR 9,252 per tonne, according to the report. That’s more than 40% up on 2021.
Meanwhile, concrete prices will rise 7.1% to EUR 75 per cubic metre, and timber prices will grow by another 9.3% this year to EUR 106.80 per metre. The increase in timber prices is affected by domestic shortages linked to licensing delays since 2020.
The construction sector is expected to rebound this year. However, there is still no sign of the price easing anticipated following the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.