Prices of building materials have skyrocketed in Kano amid low patronage of the commodities occasioned by the COVID-19 lockdown.
A check by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at Sabon Gari market in Kano on Thursday indicated that prices of building materials had shot up by about 10 per cent in the past six weeks.
Essential building materials such as cement, ceiling, roofing sheets, bricks, iron rod and wood had indicated significant increase in prices.
A brand of Brazilian ceiling was sold at N2, 200 as against its previous price of N1, 900; while Chinese brand ceiling sold at N1, 600 as against its old price of N1, 400.
A bag of Dangote Cement costs N2, 700 as against its old price of N2, 600 and BUA brand of cement was selling at N2,750 as against N2, 650.
Similarly, a tone of 16mm iron rod sold for between 205, 000 and 210, 000 as against its previous price of N195, 000.
While a nine inch brick sold at N140 as against N130, and a packet of nail costs N2, 900 as against N2, 850 while a timber plank attract as much as N1,500 as against N1, 100 it sold in the past weeks.
Some of the traders attributed the increase to scarcity of the materials occasioned by the COVID-19 lockdown in the country.
Mr Idi Garba, a dealer at Sabon Gari market, said that prices went up due to drastic dropped in the supply of the commodities to the market.
”We get ceiling and other supplies from Lagos State, we are not getting normal supply due to restrictions on interstate travel.
“The trend affected prices of building materials,” he said.
Mr Baba Ali, an iron dealer, however, lamented low patronage as a result of hikes in prices.
He lamented that he was not making good sales as people were not patronising iron and other building materials.
Also, Mukhtar Sheriff, a contractor, noted that the high cost of building materials might dash the hope of many residents to build houses.
Shariff advocated for proactive measures to regulate prices of build materials to enable most families own decent houses. (NAN)
