Vietnam suspended exports of sand, curbing supply for Singaporean building projects, on concern the current pace of extraction will damage the Mekong Delta.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung asked for shipments of sand to be stopped until the government formulates a plan to manage supply and protect the delta, Le Van Toi, head of the Ministry of Construction’s Department for Construction Materials, said by phone today. Most of Vietnam’s sand shipments have gone to Singapore, Toi said.

Singapore’s demand for construction projects reached a record $34.6 billion in 2008, and may be as high as $28 billion this year, according to the Building and Construction Authority. Indonesia banned sand exports to Singapore in 2007, increasing construction costs by 1%.

“The industry has been importing construction sand from various countries in the region, and the recent restrictions on sand exports have not affected the supply of construction sand to Singapore,” Leong Ee Leng, spokeswoman for Singapore’s building authority, said in an e-mail today.

Contractors “obtain the sand from diverse sources in various countries, so as to enhance the reliability of supply,” she said. “The industry has also started using recycled materials as an alternative to construction sand.”

Cambodia Ban
Vietnam’s exports started to surge in May after Cambodia banned overseas sales of sand, according to Toi. Shipments jumped to almost 9 million tonnes through August, from 1.3 million cubic metres last year, according to a report by the construction ministry last month.

Excessive dredging along the Mekong River, the source of most of the sand for export, can cause landslides and collapsing riverbanks, Toi said in an interview on Sept 16.

It may take several months for relevant ministries, as well as local governments, to review and assess sand reserves and submit plans for sustainable extraction as well as ways to control sales, Toi said.

“We should also be careful because we may run out of sand for construction projects which are set to increase,” he said.

Vietnam’s domestic demand for sand may increase to as much as 100 million cubic metres next year, 140 million cubic metres within the next five years and 197 million cubic metres by 2020, according to construction ministry forecasts. Vietnam used 86 million cubic metres of sand last year, ministry data shows.

Customs officials should have stopped clearing export paperwork yesterday, Toi said. The prime minister signed his decision on Sept. 29, according to Toi.

Sand has piled up at My Thoi Port in An Giang province, one of the two ports in the southern region that clears customs procedures for the export of the natural resource, Tuoi Tre newspaper reported today.