Concrete The cost of concrete products has increased steadily since the beginning of the pandemic. For steel and wood, there is a global market with a large number of buyers and sellers. This makes these markets competitive and transparent and this translates into a more direct transmission in the value chain of commodity price changes. Conversely, the markets for concrete, cement and brick are more local.
This is due to the characteristics of these materials. They are large and heavy and therefore difficult and expensive to transport. This makes these markets less competitive. Therefore, the transfer of purchase price fluctuations is slower.
This could also explain why steel and wood prices have risen more than others, as you can see in our first chart. The results are part of Linesight's fourth quarter commodity report and price forecast, based on interviews with more than 160 industry experts worldwide.
