Mining chamber joins cry for reduction in fuel costs

The Mining Chamber of Panama (Camipa ) has joined the clamor of other productive sectors in the country and urged the authorities to “take urgent and immediate measures to contain the increase in fuel prices,” in order to “avoid further damage to the economy.”

It warned that the historical increase in the price of fuel is impacting the cost of producing materials and stone aggregates, which further slows down the recovery of the important economic sector of construction.

 “The sustained increase in the price of fuel is making the negative impact on the construction aggregates industry much more severe, as it is affected by an increase of approximately 7% to 10% in construction costs,” said Camipa president Roberto Cuevas.

The situation for the sector is complicated by the fact that non-metallic mining, through which various materials and aggregates that are basic inputs for construction are extracted and produced, according to Cuevas,  “has already been facing a contraction in recent years due to the deceleration of the development of civil works and infrastructure that have impacted the sector unfavorably, affecting the reinvestment capacity and the profitability of the activity itself”.

He indicated that this combined scenario of very low demand and increased production costs “leads to an unsustainable situation, which inevitably causes drastic reductions in the workforce and even the closure of various companies dedicated to the activity.”