Last year, 12 environmental impact studies were submitted in Central American countries for construction projects of buildings to be used by government institutions, files that together amount to an estimated investment of $140 million.
The interactive platform "Construction in Central America", from CentralAmericaData's Business Intelligence Area, provides an updated list of public and private construction projects that have submitted environmental impact studies (EIA) to the respective institutions in each country.
During 2020, it is estimated that the average price of a ton of steel increased 19%, a rise that impacts the construction industry and is explained by the increase in logistics costs and the suspension of the extraction of the material due to the outbreak of covid-19.
Central American businessmen report that during last year, which was marked by the sanitary and economic crisis, the average price per ton of steel increased by $130, going from $670 to $800.
In 2019, 426 environmental impact studies were submitted to develop condominiums, apartment buildings and other housing projects in Central American countries.
The interactive platform "Construction in Central America", of the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData, includes an up-to-date list of public and private construction projects that present environmental impact studies (EIS) to the respective institutions in each country.
The Legislative Assembly approved in second debate a bill that aims to tax in the country the sale and self-consumption of imported or locally produced cement.
The initiative, which was approved in the first debate in the Assembly in mid-February and is still pending approval by the Executive Branch, establishes that the tax will be on imported cement produced nationally, in bags or in bulk, for sale or self-consumption, of any kind, whose destination is the consumption and marketing of the product nationally.
The Honduran construction union asked the government to eliminate the safeguards on imports of steel-based products, because they assure that these measures promote monopolistic practices.
Directors of the Honduran Chamber of Construction Industry (Chico), indicated that the safeguard applied to steel sheets and rods are detrimental to the construction industry and this translates into an increase in prices.
Because of flaws in the estimates of costs of the work, in Costa Rica the Comptroller's Office declared unviable the tender to build a sports center, supposedly valued at $40 million.
In July 2016, the Solis administration announced explicitly that they were preparing to tender, at the beginning of 2017, the construction of a 25,000 square meter aquatic center and a 36,000 square meter sports center in San José, for a total cost of $40 million.
An increase in the cost of construction permits, new rates for services from public entities and a more expensive labor force explain a large part of the increase in real estate sales prices.
The guild of construction companies in Panama states that prices for homes, shops and apartments are so high that in many cases buyers can not afford them.The increase, they say, is not due to increases in the cost of construction materials, but to an increase in the cost of paperwork, such as building permits, higher interest rates for loans and the elimination of some subsidies.
Office towers in Costa Rica, a hydroelectric plant in Panama and an industrial plant in Guatemala are some of the projects planned for development in the coming months in the region.
The interactive platform "Construction in Central America" compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData provides an up to date list of public and private construction projects for which EIA's were submitted to the respective institutions of each country in April 2017.
In 2015 the total built area fell 11% compared to 2014, mainly due to a 9% reduction in residential construction, which accounted for 57% of the total.
An 11% drop in construction designed for residential use, was added to the 26% reduction of the construction of commercial spaces and a decline of 10% in the construction of industrial facilities.
Data from the National Survey on Private Construction by the Central Bank of Honduras said that "...
Hospitals, roads and educational works make up the list of construction projects awarded by state institutions in Panama in May.
The report 'Construction Project Contracts', prepared by the Business Intelligence unit at CentralAmericaData.COM, includes construction projects awarded by the institutions of the Central American states in May 2015.
In the case of Panama, a total of $80 million was awarded in various construction sites in the month of May.
While in the US the number of man hours needed to build a house is 9.4 hours per square meter, in Costa Rica it takes between 40 and 60.
Low labor productivity, on top of the cost of building materials, social charges and high costs of other materials such as energy, are preventing firms from being more competitive in an industry where both end house prices for completed works and gray works, exceed those in neighboring countries.
The union argues that a reduction in the price of gray cement would help revive the depressed construction industry.
In an attempt to revive the construction sector, which fell by 8% in October 2014, the Honduran Chamber of the Construction Industry (Chico) has asked cement manufacturers for a review of prices.
The general manager of Chico, Silvio Larios told elheraldo.hn that "...
Construction companies are negotiating with the banking system for access to preferential interest rates in order to finance housing projects for lower-income sectors.
In order to alleviate the poor performance that construction sector has seen in recent months, construction companies plan to focusing on developing high rise housing projects, which, in the view of the entrepreneur Ernesto Lazarus, "...
The activity will be held on September 11th in the Atlapa convention center and seeks to bring together providers and companies from around the world.
The Construction Chamber is organizing the business meeting, which will take place during Habitat Expo on September 10th-14th in the Atlapa convention center.
From a statement issued by the Panamanian Chamber of Construction (CAPAC):
The 10% reduction in residential construction and 28% in commercial construction is explained by the decrease in the total square meters built in 2013 compared to the previous year.
A report entitled "Behaviour of private construction in 2013" by the Central Bank of Honduras reports that "...the amount of the added m2 constructed was over 1715.1 thousand, down 10.7% compared to the level observed in 2012 (1,921.6 thousand m2); behavior which is primarily explained by a 10.4% reduction in the building of residential constructions, the category which has the highest representation in the total (62.5%). Meanwhile commercial construction -with a weighting of 20.3% of the total- was down 28.5%. "