User Research/Opinions   

Sand Ban - In Perspective

Fear is unwarranted - trust our PAP Government (see relevant extracts of CNA reports below.)

In fact, sands consitute a small percentage of total construction contracts, so even if prices of sands doubled its effect is insignificant. Total construction contracts awarded in 2006 = $16 Billion vs. Average Yearly import of sands from Indonesia = $140 millions.

Title	:	Construction contracts in Singapore grew 41% in 2006
By	:
Date	:	23 January 2007 1844 hrs (SST)
URL	:	http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/254213/1/.html

Singapore's construction industry saw a significant turnaround last year, thanks to strong demand in the private sector. Total construction contracts hit $16 billion in 2006, representing almost a 41% jump on year

Title	:	Indonesia bans sand exports
By	:
Date	:	24 January 2007 1754 hrs (SST)
URL	:	http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/254450/1/.html

SINGAPORE: Indonesia has announced a ban on land sand exports. Land sand is used in the construction industry to produce cement. Singapore says it is disappointed but it believes the ban is unlikely to have a significant impact on the construction industry. Singapore says it is disappointed with Indonesia's decision but the government believes the ban is unlikely to slow the construction sector. Singapore currently spends $120m to $160m a year importing sand from Indonesia. Singapore has been diversifying its supply source and is in talks with some regional countries to import sand.

 

JUST FYI ONI: Rite now. Happening  to such countries as in Saudi.. to ..., in China to Ta...., in Ma..to S.. and in Indo to S.., may can get some sand from Cam.., maybe Phi..., due to exsiting contract, some may still be in, but at higher px, jus sharing my tot. more headache coming...

 

The sand shortage is more serious than I thought, no joke man! 

 

Sand ban, sand px up >40%, then construction and tender not even started yet. Interested parties may up it tender as accordingly to sand px plus plus, one thing for sure is up in it estimated construction cost oredi to it S$200m per years estimation for Gen Int'l and SC. Just wondering they did their sum to include such cost or not and further down the road for the next few years. Oredi Mr Lim, Gen Int'l boss said it take them about seven years to recover, this time it may take more then seven years liao. Mean while happy trading. Yahh.

 

I have to agree with you ... the sentiment is presently so bullish that nothing can change that sentiment.

 

I'm no chartist. To me, chart readings are for technicians and fortune tellers:) I'm no fundamentalist, either. To me, fundamentals are for religious fanatics, who are obsessed with their beliefs, like those terrorists.



I'm more driven by sentiments. So u may call me a sentimentalist, but not the obsessive lover type :)

 

I like the views put forward by members of the forum,esp,ipunter and lausk22.

The implication for the red dot (as lausk22 said) is that there are many green eyes surrounding the red dot.It is not the first time and will not be the last.

Can the garmen import sand from say Australia or NZ?

 

So technically speaking, does it portend well for the STI?

Did  you take a clsoe look at the STI bar chart? Especially the action during the last 2 trading days? Is it bullish or bearish?

It may well be a case of the boiling frogs, except that it starts from hot side and gets cooler while all those involved are still hotstuff.

 

The implication for a little red dot I wld say: Yes, it is serious. The other MM (Mohd Mahathir) across the causeway stopped selling to us sometime back and took us to court for using their little grains to reclaim more land from the surrounding seas. Now SBY who is presiding over a thousand islands is doing the same, although he does not need them. This is the reality of living in such a neighbourhood. Can we change reality? I doubt so. Come to think of it, we should thank Suharto for 38 years of support and peaceful life. Now, u will probably know why our MM is still such a close friend to him.   

 

So does it mean that the sand issue is actually more serious than we thought initaially thought?

 

Wah, Sguy....U certainly stir up a sand storm of information on these little inedible grains, which most people have taken for granted all along. 

 

Another sand headache.

The Eelam People?s Democratic Party, aided by the Sri Lanka Army and the Police, is removing sand at night from the Vadamaradchi east coast, where civil organizations recently imposed a ban on sand removal formed a committee to regulate it, and selling the sand in the Jaffna town area, sources in Jaffna said.

As there is a shortage of sand for construction in Jaffna, the EPDP is said to be profiteering with the collusion of the SLA.

The public and civil society groups in Vadamaradchi east have placed a ban on sand excavation from the coast, saying such removal impacts the survival of their villages at a time when nothing is being done to provide basic facilities to the villages.

"They [the sand removers] are ransacking our environment. The village gets nothing in return. We do not even have electricity. We will be exposed to nature's fury if the dunes are gone," Mr. Alagurasah, a community leader in Manalkadu, one of the villages in Vadamaradchi east, told TamilNet earlier in October.

The civil organizations later formed a seven-member committee that regulates the excavation of sand, identifying the sites where sand removal is permitted and regulating the transport of sand. However, the EPDP is surreptitiously removing sand at night, ignoring and violating the ban with the aid of the SLA and Police.

The EPDP?s profiteering from the illegal sand business has angered the public.

In the past, the EPDP was involved in the lobster business in Neduntheevu, but that business is no longer operating, and the EPDP has found the sand business profitable, sources said.

 

Indonesia wants ban on sand quarrying in outlying islands.

News on Spore National Day(my emphasis in italic).

Surabaya (Indonesia), Aug 9: The Indonesian Navy has asked the government to ban people from quarrying sand in the country's outlying islands to prevent it from disappearing, a top naval officer said .

"We have called for a ban on sand quarrying either on land or at sea," Naval Chief of Staff Admiral Slamet Soebijanto said here in East Java.

He added that he made the call after the Navy found it hard to control sand quarrying in these places.

Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic nation that is made up of more than 18,000 islands.

Many people have reportedly quarried sand off the country's outlying islands in the Riau Islands for exports to neighbouring Singapore, raising fears that many of them would disappear.

He said joint efforts involving many parties were needed to control the outlying islands.

"We have deployed marine task forces on the outlying islands.

But for the time being it is not necessary to deploy special forcers there," he said.

Asked about the government's response to the call, he said it was still to be discussed. (N.N.N.-ANTARA)

 

Another article oo ban of sand export.

BOFT to ease impact of China's ban on sand, gravel exports to Taiwan

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on April 18, 2006. It reports that China's ban on sand and gravel exports, which will take effect from May 1, 2006, will affect most Asian nations, especially Taiwan. At present, more than 20 percent of the sand and gravel consumed in Taiwan come from China.

Taiwan has totally liberalized sand and gravel imports since 1995. Currently, imports from China account for 97 percent of Taiwan's total sand and gravel imports.

Because of Taiwan's heavy reliance on Chinese sand and gravel, the Bureau of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Economic Affairs will ask the Chinese authorities to offer a grace period for the ban, in order to minimize the impact on Taiwan. According to the World Trade Organization's rules, member countries can put a ban on exports as long as such measures are implemented for industrial development, environmental protection and land conservation purposes, with no discriminatory behavior.

 

I think just short term shock lah! Singapore sure find sloution.

 

Don't act like Ah Bian! Lost-Lost Situation. Must always work towards Win-Win situation.

 

Too bad our govt is too much of a nice guy. Never play tit-for-tat with other countries, conducting everything in a very biz like manner (deep down I like this biz like manner). Yah, 'kill' the new initiative at Batam Industrial park... or something like this.

 

If they ban sand, we ban investments??? Just a thot!

 

In today TheNewpaper  news report in page 5, there is a whole page article on the baning of Sand import.

 

Desert sand can be used for construction, but look at the article below where Saudi Arabia ban sand export to Bahrain.

Desert kingdom: We may be short of sand

Saudi Arabia enforces sand export ban to neighbour's construction industry

THE sands of time are running out for Bahrain's construction industry.

07 November 2003

THE sands of time are running out for Bahrain's construction industry. At least, where its supply of sand is concerned. But eyeing neighbouring country Saudi Arabia's fine stuff is no good, for the desert kingdom has imposed strict border checks to enforce a ban on the export of sand, reported BBC. This may seem surprising, considering that sand is even more common than oil in Saudi Arabia. But increased construction activity in the Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province has already put several construction materials on the endangered list. The authorities fear that if sand continues to trickle into foreign markets, very soon, a shortage will be felt, reported Arab News. The construction industry there is already short of cement and steel. Many cement factories are in the process of expanding their production capacity to meet domestic requirements. The fact is that although there is plenty of sand in the desert, transporting and bagging it from far-flung areas is often not economically feasible. Construction industry experts said that if only some kind of mechanism could be evolved to transport sand from areas like the Rub Al-Khali (the Empty Quarter), then it might become a very profitable proposition. In its efforts to expand, city planners in Bahrain - an island that's mostly marshy land - have relentlessly been reclaiming land from the sea. From its very beginning, the construction industry in Bahrain depended on sand from Saudi Arabia. The authorities have been soft on traders and, as a result, sand has been crossing the border despite a ban on exports. Now, however, the ban is being enforced. THE IRAQ OPPORTUNITY Construction industry sources said in the coming days, shortage of several construction materials will bite harder because of reconstruction work in Iraq. The recent passage of a bill by the US Senate sanctioning US$80 to US$90 billion ($157b) for reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan will boost activity there. International brokers are tapping all possible sources in Saudi Arabia to procure cement and steel. Said Mr Abdul Rahman Al-Furaih, the owner of a construction company in the Eastern Province: 'At present, not too many things are being sold to Iraq, but sooner or later, the Eastern Province will be supplying all the construction requirements in Iraq.' Mr Khaled Al-Muhaidib, another businessman, said Eastern Province businessmen will not be able to ignore the 'Iraq opportunity' for much longer, and they are bound to plunge into reconstruction activity there.