Scarcity of construction materials, a big challenge for key projects

As many national infrastructure projects are being implemented simultaneously, the shortage of construction materials is becoming increasingly serious, putting contractors and localities in a difficult position. Although the Government has issued many drastic instructions, bottlenecks in supply, prices and procedures have not been resolved, posing the risk of delays, cost overruns and disruptions to projects.

Short supply, rising prices

In many localities, the price of construction materials, especially sand, has increased dramatically - in some places it has exceeded 1 million VND/m3, many times higher than the bid price and announced local material price, putting contractors in a difficult situation when they cannot cover costs.

The price of materials supplied to the Huu Nghi - Chi Lang project increased by 52% within 1 year.

For example, Hung Son sand mine ( Lang Son province) supplying materials for the Huu Nghi - Chi Lang project, from July 2024 to June 2025, the price increased 3 times from VND 300,000/ ^m3 to VND 455,000/ ^m3 (an increase of 52%) - the price does not include VAT and transportation fees. Meanwhile, the Department of Construction of Lang Son province announced the price of this mine was only VND 280,000, a difference of up to VND 175,000/ ^m3 .

In addition, many mines have been licensed but cannot be exploited due to procedures such as land lease, reserve measurement or being investigated. In Thanh Hoa, very few material mines have been approved. In Quang Nam , the supply is seriously lacking.

Many experts believe that the cause of this situation is due to hoarding, speculation and increasingly sophisticated market manipulation. Delays in granting mining licenses have created conditions for some mine owners and transport units to collude to raise prices, distorting the market. Actual prices at the mine are often 3-4 times higher than the local announced prices, making it difficult to prepare and adjust estimates. Furthermore, transportation costs have increased sharply due to a shortage of local supply, forcing contractors to buy materials from more distant locations.

Urgent proposal

The Government has issued many strong directives to stabilize prices and unblock supply sources. Recently, in Official Dispatch No. 85/CD-TTg dated June 10, 2025, the Prime Minister requested ministries, branches and localities to strengthen solutions to manage and control construction material prices.

The Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Construction to review and update prices in line with the market, plan mines reasonably and ensure supply-demand balance. The Ministry of Public Security will handle acts of market manipulation, profiteering, protectionism and corruption. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will finalize the draft Decree guiding the Law on Geology and Minerals to simplify mining licensing procedures. Chairmen of People's Committees of provinces and cities will be personally responsible if there is a shortage of materials, slow price updates or lax control of the market.

In reality, there are still many unresolved issues, the price of materials at the construction site is much higher than the announced price, causing the price adjustment index to be negative. Many regulations do not have specific instructions, land, environmental and site clearance procedures continue to be bottlenecks, slowing down the implementation progress despite having capital.

Many contractors and experts have made urgent recommendations such as considering the licensing procedure for material mines as a prerequisite in the approval and commencement of projects. When the source of material supply is not clearly identified, the commencement of the project may cause the progress to fall into a passive state and the costs to rise beyond control.

In addition, it is necessary to continue to extend and supplement the list of projects that enjoy special mining mechanisms that have been effectively applied. Localities also need to speed up the progress of putting licensed mines into operation, and at the same time complete auction procedures with qualified mines to supplement the supply in a timely manner.

Recently, the Government issued Resolution No. 02/2025/NQ-CP dated June 11, 2025, allowing the Long Thanh International Airport project to continue to apply the special mechanism under Resolution 60/NQ-CP (2021), which has been amended and supplemented in Resolution 133/NQ-CP. In addition, some quarries in Dong Nai, although not yet completed land lease procedures but have been compensated and cleared, are still allowed to be temporarily exploited to serve national transport projects.

Along with that, price control at the mine and transportation costs also need to be tightened and periodically checked to prevent price gouging and market manipulation. In the long term, there needs to be a strategy to develop alternative materials to reduce pressure on natural resources.

The problem of material shortage is not new. For many years, since the North-South Expressway project was implemented, the scarcity of materials has become a burning issue and has always been a haunting concern for contractors. In the context of the upcoming implementation of an additional 2,000 km of expressway, North-South high-speed railway and a series of large infrastructure projects, if this problem is not fundamentally resolved, the "material storm" will break out at any time.

According to experts, to effectively resolve the issue, we cannot rely on individual efforts but need a comprehensive, synchronous and consistent strategy from the central to local levels. Only when the shortcomings in institutions, procedures, supply and prices are thoroughly resolved can key projects be completed on schedule and with quality, contributing to economic growth and sustainable national development.

PV

Source: https://tienphong.vn/khan-hiem-vat-lieu-xay-dung-thach-thuc-lon-cua-cac-du-an-trong-diem-post1754436.tpo