As the conflict in the Middle East enters its second month, rising gasoline and diesel prices are widely expected to add to construction costs in Maine and nationwide.
While some construction companies are already feeling the pinch of higher fuel costs, others are weighing their next moves.
At Avesta Housing, a Portland-based nonprofit developer of affordable housing, “rising fuel prices are starting to impact our projects under construction,” said Patrick Hess, the organization’s vice president of real estate.
“We are seeing cost increases from manufacturers of petroleum-based products and proposals from contractors for transportation-related surcharges that weren’t built into our original budgets,” he explained. “We’re managing these pressures as best we can, but we expect that continued volatility in fuel prices will affect overall construction costs.”