Scarcity of construction materials in Myanmar slows rebuilding after quake

Extensive damage and import restrictions have caused a severe shortage of steel, cement, and other materials needed for reconstruction and repairs since last month’s earthquake, retailers and business owners said. Bags of cement, which sold for around 20,000 kyat (US $4.50) in early 2025, are now difficult to acquire and cost between 40,000 and 50,000 (US $9 and $11) when they are available, construction business employees said. The current market price is at least an eightfold increase from the cost of 5,000 kyat per bag, which was usual before the 2021 coup. These prices reflect market conditions in Yangon, which was far from the epicentre of the quake, and are likely higher in the more heavily impacted areas of central Myanmar. Cement is in short supply even at retail stores in the domestic market, according to staff at cement and building material businesses in Yangon. “We don't know ourselves exactly when we’ll get it,” said a retail employee in North Dagon Township, referring to her store’s cement supply. “We’ve heard that we might be able to buy again after the Thingyan Festival, but that’s not certain either," she added, referring to the traditional mid-April water holidays in Myanmar. The shortage has prompted a suspension of cement sales in some places, with even pre-orders temporarily halted, according to a manager at a cement and building materials store in Yangon’s Tamwe Township. Prices for cement have increased gradually since 2023, when Myanmar’s military regime imposed restrictions on imports of various goods, including cement, to stem the outflow of foreign currency. According to remarks given by junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in 2021, there were 19 cement factories in Myanmar operating at the time, three of which were state-owned and the remaining 16 of which were private. The junta chief said there was no need to import, as the cement factories in Myanmar were capable of producing up to 16 million tons per year, which was more than enough to meet the annual domestic demand of between 10 and 11 million tons. However, the production capacities of domestic cement factories have been limited since the coup due to the inconsistent supply of electricity and an inability to import machinery and replacement parts needed for manufacturing, according to a construction business owner in Yangon. People who lost homes in the disaster now say they are in more urgent need of housing than food, and the rising prices for construction materials are impeding the reconstruction of homes, according to a resident of Sagaing in the region of the same name. “My brother's family's three-story house collapsed,” he said. “Now cement costs about 55,000 kyat per bag. So how can they rebuild a house like that?” The city of Sagaing is among the areas most heavily impacted by the quake. A street in Mandalay with collapsed and damaged residential buildings on April 8 March’s powerful earthquake also caused enough damage to several cement factories to force them to stop production, the Yangon construction business owner said, noting that the current shortages were the result of this damage along with increased demand for materials to start rebuilding after the quake. Five cement factories in Mandalay Region and Naypyitaw Union Territory have halted production because of earthquake damage. Charlie Than, the junta’s Union Minister for the Ministry of Industry, met with cement manufacturers in Naypyitaw on April 10, to discuss repairing factories and distributing the remaining stock of cement. The Alpha Cement factory in Mandalay Region’s Madaya Township—which is backed by investment from China—has also ceased operations since June 2024, when it was captured by the anti-junta fighters of the Mandalay Region People’s Defence Force. The Kyaikmaraw cement factory in Mon State, a joint venture between Thailand’s SCG Company and Myanmar's Capital Diamond Star Company, has been closed since after the military coup due to profit-sharing issues. "Thousands of government buildings were damaged, and roads and bridges were damaged, so there's a huge demand for steel rods and cement,” the construction business owner remarked. “Prices are unlikely to fall.” He added that the military regime should allow more imports of cement as well as spare parts and machinery for domestic manufacturing. Cement imports from abroad have declined continuously since the military coup, according to data from the junta-controlled ministry of commerce. However, junta-controlled newspapers have reported that the regime has been granting more import licences to acquire the cement needed for rebuilding in disaster-impacted areas, with some factories around the country also agreeing to sell at factory prices rather than charge for shipping. The junta also announced that more than 5,100 tons of cement from the Myaingkalay and Pyinyaung factories would be available for sale in Mandalay, Sagaing, and Bago regions starting on April 8, and that cement imports are permitted through the Kawthaung-Ranong border gate in Myanmar’s south. According to the regime, 1,500 tons of imported cement had arrived in Yangon as of April 9, and similar amounts are expected to continue arriving weekly.

Scarcity of construction materials in Myanmar slows rebuilding after quake

Prices for cement, steel, and other supplies have soared this month due to earthquake damage as well as trade barriers imposed by the military regime since 2023

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