Thousand of Australian tradies could be laid off because of a shortage of building supplies amid the coronavirus epidemic

  • Master Builders New South Wales is worried about a Chinese steel shortage
  • Executive director Brian Seidler said metal curtain walling was a particular issue 
  • He feared this would delay office tower projects and jeopardise building jobs 
  • Almost 1.2million Australian workers, or nine per cent of labour force, are tradies 

By Stephen Johnson For Daily Mail Australia

Published: | Updated:

A shortage of building materials from China because of the coronavirus could see thousands of tradesmen laid off.

Almost 1.2million Australians, or nine per cent of the labour force, are employed in construction - a sector last year worth $212.7billion.

Many of those jobs are at risk as the coronavirus jeopardises the supply of Chinese-made reinforced steel products.

Master Builders New South Wales executive director Brian Seidler said a shortage of imported steel curtain walling, used for high-rise building exteriors, could cause a delay in office tower construction projects in Sydney.

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A shortage of building materials from China because of the coronavirus could see thousands of tradies laid off. Almost 1.2million Australians, or nine per cent of the labour force, are employed in construction (Sydney workers pictured) - a sector last year worth $212.7billion

A shortage of building materials from China because of the coronavirus could see thousands of tradies laid off. Almost 1.2million Australians, or nine per cent of the labour force, are employed in construction (Sydney workers pictured) - a sector last year worth $212.7billion

'I'm mindful that it could impact on the continuity of work,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday. 

China's influence on Australian construction

More than 23 per cent of iron and steel imports by value come from China.

Australia is home to 1.18million construction workers including 142,884 carpenters and joiners

Source:  Master Builders Australia analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics data

'I've been speaking to mainly commercial contractors in recent days and they're all sounding a note of warning: we are now starting to see problems with supply.'

Should the supply shortages escalate, Mr Seidler said jobs would be at risk.

'Ultimately, if there's no product coming out and that dries up their work, there would be some issues of that,' he said. 

'I don't think we're there yet.'

NSW is home to a third of Australia's building construction workers, with 360,000 employed in the state.

Many of those jobs are at risk as the coronavirus (Melbourne commuters, pictured) jeopardises the supply of Chinese-made reinforced steel products. Master Builders New South Wales executive director Brian Seidler said a shortage of imported steel curtain walling, used for high-rise building exteriors, could cause a delay in office tower construction projects in Sydney

Many of those jobs are at risk as the coronavirus (Melbourne commuters, pictured) jeopardises the supply of Chinese-made reinforced steel products. Master Builders New South Wales executive director Brian Seidler said a shortage of imported steel curtain walling, used for high-rise building exteriors, could cause a delay in office tower construction projects in Sydney

Nationally, 1.182million tradesmen are employed in the construction, including 142,884 carpenters and joiners, a Masters Builders Australia analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showed.

Chinese iron and steel comprises 23.3 per cent of imports, by value. 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is also worried Chinese supply blockages, and hinted at a possible stimulus package aimed at 'keeping Australians in jobs'.

'It disrupts the normal economy, it disrupts the supply chains,' he told reporters on Tuesday.

Coronavirus has now infected 38 Australians, including a 78-year-old retired Perth travel agent James Kwan who was the first Australian to die on Sunday morning.

Since December, the flu-like illness has spread from the Chinese city of Wuhan, infecting more than 90,000 people worldwide and killing more than 3,100 people.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA - 34

NEW SOUTH WALES: 13 

January 25 

Three men aged 43, 53, and 35 who had recently travelled to China contracted the disease.

Two flew in from Wuhan while the other arrived in Sydney from Shenzhen, south China.

They were treated in isolation at Westmead Hospital. 

January 27  

A 21-year-old woman is identified as the fourth person to test positive for the illness in NSW.

The woman, a student at UNSW, flew into Sydney International Airport on flight MU749 on January 23 and presented to the emergency department 24 hours later after developing flu-like symptoms.

March 1 

A man in his 40s is confirmed as the fifth coronavirus case in the state and a woman in her 50s as the sixth. Both returned to Sydney from Iran. 

March 2 

The 41-year-old sister of a man who had returned from Iran with the disease was one of three confirmed cases. The second locally-acquired case was a 53-year-old male health worker who hadn't travelled for many months.

The other new case is a 31-year-old man who flew into Sydney on Saturday from Iran and developed symptoms 24 hours later.

March 3

Four more cases are confirmed in NSW. They included a 39-year-old man who had flown in from Iran and a 53-year-old man who had flown in from Singapore last Friday.

Two more cases involving two women aged in their 60s who arrived in Sydney from South Korea and Japan respectively were also confirmed.

VICTORIA: 9

January 25  

A Chinese national aged in his 50s becomes the first confirmed case of the coronavirus in Australia.

The man flew to Melbourne on China Southern flight CZ321 from Wuhan via Guangzhou on January 19.

He was quarantined at Monash Hospital in Clayton in Melbourne's east.

January 29   

A Victorian man in his 60s is diagnosed with the coronavirus.

He became unwell on January 23 - two days after returning from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.

The man was confirmed as positive on January 29 and was subsequently seen by doctors at the Monash Medical Centre.

January 30 

 A woman in her 40s is found to have coronavirus.

She was visiting from China and mostly spent time with her family.

She is being treated at Royal Melbourne Hospital. 

February 1 

A woman in her 20s in Melbourne is found to have the virus. 

February 22

Two passengers taken off the Diamond Princess cruise ship test positive. 

February 25

Another passenger taken off the cruise ship tests positive. 

March 1

Victorian man confirmed to have coronavirus after the 78-year-old was evacuated to Melbourne from a Darwin quarantine centre.

It is confirmed a Victorian woman in her 30s has tested positive for coronavirus after flying from Malaysia to Melbourne via Indonesia.

QUEENSLAND: 10

January 29

Queensland confirms its first case after a 44-year-old Chinese national was diagnosed with the virus. He is being treated at Gold Coast University Hospital.

January 30

A 42-year-old Chinese woman who was travelling in the same Wuhan tour group as the 44-year-old man tests positive. She is in Gold Coast University Hospital in stable condition.

February 4

An eight-year-old boy was diagnosed with coronavirus. He is also from the tour group where the other Queensland cases came from.

February 5

A 37-year-old man, who was a member of a group of nine Chinese tourists in quarantine on the Gold Coast, also tested positive.

February 6  

A 37-year-old woman was diagnosed with coronavirus from the same travel group that flew to Queensland from Melbourne on January 27.

February 21 

Two Queensland women, aged 54 and 55, tested positive for COVID-19 and will be flown to Brisbane for further treatment.

A 57-year-old woman from Queensland also tested positive for the virus.

February 28

A 63-year-old woman was confirmed to have the virus after returning to the Gold Coast from Iran.

March 3

A 20-year-old man from China was confirmed as the tenth person to be infected by the coronavirus in Queensland. The man had travelled to Dubai for at least 14 days before entering Australia, via Brisbane on February 23. 

SOUTH AUSTRALIA: 3

February 1  

A Chinese couple in their 60s who arrived in Adelaide from Wuhan to visit relatives are confirmed to have coronavirus.

A 24-year-old woman from South Australia was transferred to Royal Adelaide Hospital.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA: 2

February 21 

A 78-year-old man from Western Australia was transferred to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth. On February 28, he was taken into intensive care in a 'serious' condition.

March 1 

The elderly man died in the early hours of the morning from the virus at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.

TASMANIA: 1  

March 2

The man who travelled from Iran to Australia on Saturday tested positive for COVID-19.

DIAMOND PRINCESS CRUISE SHIP: 10  

Of the cases in Australia, ten contracted the disease on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which had gone into quarantine in the Japanese port of Yokohama.

They tested positive for the coronavirus after arriving at the Manigurr-ma Village Howard Springs facility in Darwin, and nine are now being treated in their home states.

DEATHS: 1 

March 1 

A man in his 70s died at a Perth hospital. He was a passenger on the Diamond Princess Cruise ship.

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Coronavirus could cause thousands of Australian tradies to lose their jobs

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