Inflated Bricks
The price of Cambodian bricks has exploded. There is such a demand by building companies for bricks (semi-handmade, Cambodian style and supposedly without child labour) that the big contractors, anticipating a supply gap, have started hoarding huge amounts of bricks, increasing demand to such an extent that the price of a truckload of bricks has soared nearly twofold. The smaller contractors and builders are stuck: they bought one truckload at a time and can’t afford to buy the next one unless they make their customer pay more. Inflation is on the rise in every sector…
At the brick factories on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, the production rythm can’t be increased.
Story Nr VIJ2008016