Land Ministry to Disclose Construction Material Supply Trends to the Public

Daily Monitoring of Supply and Prices Following the Middle East War

On April 20, Kim Itak, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, met with the heads of five regional land management offices (Seoul, Wonju, Daejeon, Iksan, and Busan) to discuss the current status of major construction material production and supply. The meeting was convened as a countermeasure in response to concerns over supply disruptions of finishing materials and other items due to the prolonged Middle East war, with a review of the production and supply situation as well as response plans.

During the meeting, participants discussed establishing a real-time communication network among the Ministry's headquarters (Emergency Economic Task Force), each regional office, and the construction materials production industry, tailored to each type of construction material. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport stated that they also discussed ways to obtain more detailed information on the supply and pricing trends of materials for quicker response, as well as periodically informing the public about related developments.

Since the outbreak of the war, concerns have arisen that the supply of major construction materials could be disrupted, such as asphalt concrete used for road paving and naphtha used in insulation and waterproofing materials, due to interruptions in crude oil supply. According to the Ministry, while there have not been immediate supply issues, confusion caused by panic buying at worksites due to heightened anxiety is considered a bigger problem. Therefore, the Ministry is reportedly reviewing ways to communicate specific supply trends to the public.

Kim Itak, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, held an emergency economic task force meeting to review the supply and demand trends of construction materials. Photo by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has been operating an emergency economic task force for construction sites, led by Vice Minister Kim, since April 3 to monitor key material supply trends, such as finishing materials, on a daily basis. The Ministry explained, "With concerns growing over all petrochemical raw material products, we have mobilized staff from our five affiliated regional offices to conduct special on-site inspections of the entire supply chain, including not only the supply of finished products but also intermediate goods and the raw material production and distribution process, since April 10."

Vice Minister Kim emphasized, "We must minimize the impact of construction material supply difficulties and rising prices on SOC construction, such as roads and railways, as well as housing supply." He added, "In order to assure the public that the government is closely managing the situation, please make every effort to proactively manage the entire supply chain, from material production to project completion."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.