Difficulties in supplying construction materials for road projects
The Ministry of Construction has just sent a document to the Ministry of Finance reporting on the implementation of Resolution No. 106/2023/QH15 of the National Assembly on piloting a number of specific policies on investment in road construction.
According to the Ministry of Construction, Resolution 106 has created a timely legal corridor to handle some major bottlenecks in road construction investment. The effectiveness is clearly shown in shortening the process of exploiting minerals for ordinary construction materials by about 10 months, increasing proactiveness in supply, limiting speculation and price fluctuations. Along with that, this mechanism helps to promptly mobilize increased central budget revenue in 2022 for the Cao Bo - Mai Son project; and at the same time increase the proactiveness and responsibility of localities for national highway projects, expressways and inter-provincial projects.
According to reports from investors, the projects have completed and put into operation 739.23 km of roads; completed the expansion of 15.2 km of the Cao Bo - Mai Son route; completed the upgrade and renovation of 28.8 km of the Cao Lanh - Lo Te route, contributing to improving inter-regional connectivity and transport capacity.
However, the Ministry of Construction pointed out some difficulties related to material sources. The application of regulations is still not unified between localities; there are still obstacles in land procedures and agreements with land users; exploitation capacity has not met the needs of progress; the exploitation capacity of some contractors is still limited.
In the Mekong Delta region, the demand for materials for the period 2026 - 2030 is very large. However, river sand resources cannot meet the demand; the supply of sand and stone materials for projects is mainly concentrated in some localities. For sea sand, although the sand source has large reserves, due to the characteristics of offshore exploitation, there are not many vehicles that meet the conditions for exploitation. Mining in coastal areas with low draft can only use small-capacity vessels.
In addition, due to rough seas and monsoons, sea sand can only be exploited from March to the end of August of the year. After exploitation, sand must be salted and transferred many times from large ships to small ships. Long transportation distance also makes the cost of sea sand higher than river sand, leading to limited use in localities.
Proactively source materials right from the project preparation stage
According to the Ministry of Construction, material sources must be considered a decisive component of the investment plan and be surveyed and evaluated for reserves, quality, land procedures, environment and transportation plans right from the project preparation stage.
The Ministry of Construction believes that special mechanisms will only be effective when accompanied by clear assignment of responsibilities, handling deadlines, inter-sectoral and inter-local coordination mechanisms and an early monitoring and warning system for risks of material shortages, slow site clearance and slow disbursement.
Regarding tasks and solutions to continue implementation, the Ministry of Construction said that it has sent documents to localities and relevant agencies requesting reports on the supply and demand situation of construction materials for projects. Based on proposals and recommendations from localities, the Ministry of Construction will review, summarize, and report to the Prime Minister on specific mechanisms to ensure filling materials for key national infrastructure projects in the coming time.
The Ministry of Construction also proposes to build a mechanism to forecast, balance and coordinate material sources by region and inter-region; establish a focal point to update needs, reserves, capacity, prices and transportation capacity. Material sources are prioritized for important national projects but do not disproportionate the needs of people's livelihoods and production in localities.
According to the Ministry of Construction, in the first 6 months of 2026, projects under the Ministry and key projects managed by localities started 6/10 projects, completed 4/34 projects. In the expressway sector alone, 395 km of expressway have been put into operation, connecting the entire North-South expressway in the east, raising the total number of expressways to 3,345 km; newly built 219 km and upgraded 212 km of national highways.
Besides some localities performing well, there is still a situation of slow site clearance and slow project implementation progress. The causes are identified as problems with site clearance, lack of material supply; some projects have contractors operating at a snail's pace. The Ministry of Construction requests localities to accelerate site clearance, prepare for investment, ensure construction material sources, focus on implementing key projects, and strive to complete the assigned public investment capital disbursement plan.
