Builders said to face biggest bills in Qatar

Qatar has become the most expensive construction market in the Gulf in terms of raw materials costs, according to new research published on Tuesday.

In its Q3 Construction Costs & Outlook Report, MEED reported that construction materials costs in Qatar are on average 12 percent higher than in the UAE for construction materials, and 4.5 percent more expensive than Saudi Arabia. Faced with rapid growth in construction activity on the back of its programme to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar is seeing strong inflation in materials costs, the report said.

It added that the average rate per tonne for rebar in Qatar is 32 percent higher than in the UAE. It also found that although the price for a 50kg bag of cement is only 3.5 percent higher than in the UAE, the cost of concrete is 28.6 percent higher.

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However the report also showed that construction labour costs were highest in Saudi Arabia – on average 18 percent higher than in the UAE and 51 percent more expensive than Qatar. The average daily skilled labour rate is 22 percent higher in Saudi Arabia than in the UAE while daily unskilled labour rate is 14 percent higher.

Emil Rademeyer, general manager of MEED Cost Indices, said: “A steady rise in the demand for rebar and the anticipation of an impending boom in construction spend is driving up the price significantly higher than in the UAE.”

The report also indicated that the demand for cement will peak in 2015.

Rademeyer added: “In addition to supply costs, MCI provide insightful analysis to the demand of resources across all the main industry sectors such as construction, industrial gas, oil, power, transport and water sectors across the GCC countries.”

source: Arabian Business