A halt in ready-mix concrete deliveries has entered its fourth day, rapidly spreading construction delays across the capital region.
According to the Construction Industry Difficulty Support Center, which the Construction Association of Korea opened on the 8th of this month, ready-mix concrete supply disruptions have delayed about 100,000 cubic meters of concrete pouring at 105 sites operated by 22 major builders, as of 3 p.m. that day. Converted into mixer trucks, this amounts to about 16,800 vehicles.
The actual damage is expected to be far larger. Based on the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Construction Industry Knowledge Information System, ongoing construction sites in the capital region number some 19,000. Factoring in major and small-to-medium builders that have not yet reported, the association expects the real scale of damage to be severe.
The problem is that costs are piling up on two fronts. Even when concrete pouring stops, on-site labor and equipment operating costs continue, while concerns over liquidated damages for process delays add further pressure, meaning industry losses can only grow the longer the work stoppage lasts. With the construction industry already pushed to its limit by rising material costs and a downturn in construction conditions, the addition of this latest crisis has spread a sense of alarm across the sector that "even the last line of defense could collapse."
The atmosphere at builders' sites remains at a "manageable" level, but tension is high. An official at one major builder said, "At this point it is difficult to view this strike as a direct factor in raising construction costs," while adding, "If it drags on, there is a possibility of an impact on process operations due to material supply disruptions, so we are continuously monitoring the situation." The official added, "Since this strike concerns negotiations over transport fees rather than a hike in ready-mix concrete prices, we hope it will be smoothly resolved through talks between concrete companies and the transport union."
An official at another major builder said, "At the sites, we are still responding by adjusting work schedules," but added, "If the situation drags on, damage will be unavoidable."
The industry points to the supply-demand control system for construction machinery, applied to concrete mixer trucks, as the root cause of the situation. Under the current system, new mixer truck registration has been blocked for 18 years since 2009, entrenching what is effectively an oligopolistic market. This, the industry says, has led to excessive transport fee increases and collective transport refusals repeated every year, structurally expanding damage to the construction sector.
Critics further note that aging mixer trucks pose a threat to the environment and to public health and safety, due to emissions (fine dust) and a rise in safety accidents. In response, the industry is recommending that the system be improved to reflect market conditions quickly, such as shortening the review period for construction machinery supply-demand control from the current two years to one year and expanding mixer truck supply on a region-differentiated basis.
