◀ Anchor ▶
As the supply of cement raw materials is disrupted due to the cargo union strike, ready-mix concrete and construction sites are also disrupted one after another.
Currently, cement shipments are about half the usual level, but when the rail strike starts tomorrow, the supply shortage is expected to worsen.
This is reporter Lee Ji-hyun’s report.
◀ Report ▶
This plant produces 100 tons of ready-mix concrete per day.
Most of the facilities have been closed since this week.
Warehouses filled with concrete before the strike sold out in four days.
Occasionally, the cement is brought in by trucks from non-union members, but it is less than 30% of the normal volume.
[레미콘 공장 관계자]
“It is impossible to produce (remicon) with only one or two units. All ready-mix employees are currently on vacation.”
As about half of the 68 ready-mix concrete companies in the Chungbuk region have been suspended, new apartment construction sites, which account for the largest demand for ready-mix concrete, have been hit the hardest.
An apartment that went up to the 8th floor out of a total of 29 floors stopped working after the shot.
All construction work must be stopped in a day or two if the concrete cannot be poured.
The work of 200 field workers will soon be stopped.
About half of the 45 apartment building sites in North Chungcheong province are in a similar situation.
[공사 현장 관계자]
“Workers always ask if the cement has arrived, but we haven’t been able to give a definite answer yet.”
At least, cement shipments using non-union vehicles or returning haulage to major producing areas are recovering by nearly half.
But if the railway is blocked, the problem gets worse.
In the case of Chungbuk, around 40% of shipments are transported by rail and in Gangwon around 15% are transported by rail.
[시멘트 업계 관계자]
“In the future (the storage space) is 30% free. But if the strike goes on for a long time, it’s such a situation that we have to stop production.”
The government has calculated that as of yesterday, the week after the strike, 970,000 tons of cement had not been shipped.
This is Lee Ji-hyun from MBC News.
Video coverage: Cheon Gyo-hwa (Chungbuk)
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