The historical increase in the price of fuel is also impacting the cost of producing materials and stone aggregates, which further slows down the recovery of the important economic sector of construction -generator of thousands of direct and indirect jobs- warned the Mining Chamber of Panama (CAMP).
The president of CAMIPA, Roberto Cuevas, recalled that the non-metallic mining sector, through which various materials and aggregates that are basic inputs for construction are extracted and produced, has been facing a contraction in recent years due to the slowdown in the development of civil works and infrastructure that have impacted this sector unfavorably, affecting the reinvestment capacity and the profitability of the activity itself.
The mining engineer highlighted that in addition to the above, 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 % production cost overruns* due to this increase.
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.
Given the current situation, CAMIPA joins the other productive sectors of the country and demands that the authorities take urgent and immediate measures to contain the increase in fuel prices, and thus avoid further damage to the economy, which, as we all know, is still it does not fully achieve the expected post-pandemic reactivation.
