Prices of construction materials down in Feb

MANILA, Philippines - Wholesale prices of construction materials in Metro Manila eased in February from last month with slowdowns noted in prices of most commodity groups, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said.

The statistics agency said in a report the annual change in the Construction Materials Wholesale Price Index (CMWPI) was at 1.2 percent in March compared to two percent in February.

The NSO noted that the annual rate in the index for fuels and lubricants further went down to 5.5 percent in March from -2.6 percent in February.

It said indices of other commodity groups also slowed during the month.

Slowdowns were noted in the indices of the following: sand and gravel (three percent from 4.3 percent); concrete products (two percent from 2.6 percent); cement (5.7 percent from 6.3 percent); hardware (1.9 percent from 2.5 percent); plywood (1.8 percent from 2.1 percent); lumber (4.1 percent from 4.5 percent); G.I. sheet (0.9 percent from 1.6 percent); reinforcing steel (3.3 percent from 3.6 percent); structural steel (2.6 percent from 3.3 percent); doors, jambs and steel casement (1.2 percent from 1.7 percent); electrical works (2.7 percent from 3.6 percent); painting works (1.1 percent from 1.5 percent); and PVC pipes (0.9 percent from 1.4 percent).

Adjustments in prices of  glass and glass products and asphalt were steady in March.

The glass and glass products index was at 0.9 percent in March, the same as the previous month.

The asphalt index was unchanged at 3.9 percent in March from the prior month.

The machinery and equipment rental index meanwhile had zero growth in March.

The CMWPI measures the changes in the average wholesale prices of construction materials.

The index is used for the computation of price escalation of construction materials for various government projects.