By ANNELIA NIXON

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian contractors yesterday voiced hopes they will enjoy reduced costs for critical building materials and supplies as a result of Customs duty cuts in the 2025-2026 Budget.

Patricia Cleare, proprietor of Screws & Fasteners World, backed the decision to remove import duty on factory cement, copper fittings, screws, nuts and bolts even though it came as a surprise. Given that she has to import the bulk of her inventory, eliminated or reduced duties may allow her to pass this on to consumers via price reductions.

“I am happy about it,” Ms Cleare said. “Who wouldn’t be? But what I am happy for is when we can now reduce prices on a number of things that we get in, and it can cause me to expand even more.

“All of them [materials] are imported. We do not have a factory here. If we have a factory here, that involves bringing in equipment, and that type of equipment is [going to have] electricity problems. We can’t manufacture nothing here like that, because that’s a lot. And then we’ll still be competing with America in a way.

“So I’m glad that he’s [Prime Minister Philip Davis KC] doing it duty free as it can actually encourage us to get more variety, as well as it can cause the prices for a lot of stuff to go down,” Ms Cleare added. “I was quite surprised he feels that it’s so important, because when you really look at fasteners, at every aspect of everything you do, every profession needs some fasteners.

“So, I am quite happy because it’s a business that is needed in the country. So I’m quite happy to see that he was willing to actually do that... Sometimes some of the bolts are very, very expensive. One nut is costing about $40.”

Ms Cleare said she can also look at expanding the range of inventory she brings in with the removal of duty. “There’s more screws that I can bring in that is needed,” she said. “For instance, I sell a lot of stainless steel 304. There’s also a whole line of stainless steel 316. There’s also a line of left-hand screws.

“There’s all of these stuff that I don’t really bring in because there’s no space, and because you cannot afford to have screws sitting on your shelf. The 316 size. The 316 grade screws are very expensive, and if you are paying duty on it, it can be a pretty penny. People don’t like to pay for that. But if you’re not paying duty on it, all I have to do is just do my small mark-up at that cost, and that’s about it.

“It’ll drop the price, and I’ll be able to expand by bringing in other types of screws, more volume, more types like silicone, bronze. A lot of these are stainless steel screws, and the challenge is to bring them in. They’re very expensive. So I’m happy that he did that, and that can actually reduce the cost of a number of screws that we have on what we want to expand to.

“What they’re doing is okay for me with looking at the need in the country, and now dropping prices to accommodate that need, one of them is the fasteners line that I carry.”

Virley McKinney, project manager at Asphalt Maintenance Paving & Testing Company, said lower and eliminated duties will result in reduced material costs, which will allow him to lower service prices for his customers.

“That can cause the hardware stores’ prices to go back down to what they typically were,” Mr McKinney said. “So typically, right now, in terms of cement, in terms of concrete insulation, when we supply and install, we work for about between $7 and $8 a square foot. And I would assume with that reduction, we could probably do between $6 and $7, and take a dollar or two off.

“Just off the top of my head, I can tell you, a reduction in material would usually be like $1 and some change; close to $2 depending on material cost. It’s a change in the right direction. I wouldn’t say significant, because there are a lot more construction materials that could use a slight reduction.

“And I’d say, probably like the lumber, because we use a lot of wood, too. We buy wood, two by four and two by 12 and two by eight. So I think if we reduce the overall construction cost, bringing it back to some normalcy, then that will require a few more items to be exempt.”