Since the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2019, the world has been experiencing a devastating economic impact. Sadly, almost every sector of the economy has been affected. However, the construction industry seems to have been dealt the heaviest blow by the pandemic.
Although everyone hoped that 2021 would be the year that everything will start to normalize, things are still very tough, with construction materials still rising. For instance, the cost of roofing materials seems to be increasing almost every day. But why is this happening? Continue reading to know why roofing materials are so expensive right now.
Reasons Why Roofing Materials Are Expensive Today
Shortage
When the COVID-19 pandemic became unmanageable, governments worldwide were forced to take drastic measures to prevent the further spread of the deadly virus. These measures included total lockdowns, curfews, and restricted movements. Consequently, businesses, including the manufacturers and suppliers of roofing materials, were forced to complete, halt or minimize their daily operations.
Since many employees were forced to stay at home, there have been low production roofing materials, with some companies even shutting down their operations indefinitely. The less production of roofing materials means that the demand is higher than the supply. This has led to a steady increase in the cost of roofing materials.
Increased Cost of Production
COVID-19 restrictions have led to a steady increase in the cost of production. For example, most manufacturing companies have been forced to downsize their workforce to maintain the required social distance among employees. This means that the companies and their employees have to extend their working hours and work twice as hard to maintain the same output level. This has automatically pushed the cost of production high.
Furthermore, companies have been forced to restructure their premises to meet the required standards of operation. This means that they have to spend money to make their premises compliant. For instance, some businesses have ended up spending millions of dollars to digitize some of their departments to enable their employees to work from home.
Also, many suppliers of roofing materials have been forced to hire more delivery personnel and increase the number of delivery trucks so that they can deliver all orders during the day because of night curfews. Manufacturers of roofing materials are also experiencing delays in the supply of raw materials. These delays have led to increased costs of production. The increased cost of operation translates into increased prices.