Hongkongers looking for some home improvement are finding it costs a lot more time and money these days as the city's renovators grapple with higher prices and material shortages amid the Covid pandemic.
Hong Kong sources most of its renovation materials from the mainland, but with the pandemic continuing to hit cross-border freights, renovation and refurbishment projects have been hit by delays of up to two months because building materials from the mainland have not been arriving on time.
Also transportation costs have increased significantly because of the supply crunch, adding to the woes of the renovation industry.
Earlier this year, Shenzhen introduced closed-loop management measures at its 17 cross-border truck transfer stations to prevent imported infections from Hong Kong, after the fifth wave of Covid infections hit the city hard.
Under the closed loop, Hong Kong drivers have to head to these connection points and hand over their trucks to mainland drivers, who pick up goods on their behalf.
But the drivers complained that the time taken to enter the connection was too long with some waiting for up to 20 hours and many found it so inconvenient that they stopped working.
The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions had estimated that as of end-March, 90 percent of cross-border freight drivers had stopped work due to the new arrangements, bringing cross-border land freight to a virtual standstill and forcing many importers to turn to costlier sea and air freight options.
Efforts have been made to ease the crisis. Truck disinfection and turnaround times have been improved in Shenzhen, the quota for cross-border trucks has risen from 500 to more than 3,500 trucks a day, and checkpoints at Shenzhen Bay and Liantang have increased their capacity to handle trucks by offering more parking slots, the Shenzhen Daily reported.
MATERIAL SHORTAGES
Meanwhile, renovators said that the import delays have had a domino effect on residential projects as every bit of work - from window installations to plastering and from electrical wiring to painting - is interlinked, so any delay in one process will delay the rest.
They said that several projects have been delayed due to a shortage of materials such as aluminum window frames, window sills and glass windows - with painting contracts suffering as a result.
Skilled workers have also been hard to come by. An executive at the Hong Kong Brick-laying & Construction Trade Workers' Union said that though subcontractors need skilled workers to ensure the quality of the renovation, freight delays have resulted in building and renovation material for different projects all arriving on the same day, leading to a mad scramble for decoration workers.
And skilled decorators have upped their price: from HK$1,600 per day to nearly HK$2,000.
In addition, prices for major renovation materials such as floor tiles, cement and bricks have also risen due to rising freight costs. Sandlime bricks, which used to cost around HK$1.60 to HK$2 a piece, now cost HK$3 while the price of cement has soared from HK$500 a ton before the pandemic to HK$700.
Overall, prices for decoration materials have increased by 10 percent, according to an owner of a renovation company.
While some renovators have absorbed the extra costs to avoid losing customers, the Hong Kong Brick-laying & Construction Trade Workers' Union estimated that profit margins for renovation and refurbishment firms have shrunk from more than 20 percent to 30 percent previously to 10 percent at most today, with some even slipping into the red.
