Wholesale prices of construction materials increase faster in May 2018

MANILA, Philippines — Wholesale prices of building materials in the National Capital Region (NCR) continued to rise while retail prices remained steady last month, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported yesterday.

The Construction Materials Wholesale Price Index (CMWPI) in the NCR grew at a faster rate of eight percent in May 2018 from 7.5 percent last April and 2.4 percent in May 2017.

PSA attributed this to the 30 percent growth in the fuels and lubricants index in May 2018. Higher annual mark-ups were also seen in the indices of plywood and electrical works.

Slower annual increases, meanwhile, were seen in the indices of sand and gravel, and galvanized iron sheets. Other commodity groups either retained their previous month’s rate or had zero growth.

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

Retail prices of building materials, meanwhile, settled at 2.6 percent in May from the same growth rate in April, but accelerated from May 2017, based on the Construction Materials Retail Price Index (CMRPI).

Faster growth were seen in the indices of carpentry materials, and painting materials and related compounds. Slower annual gains, meanwhile, were seen in tinsmithry materials. Prices were steady for electrical materials, masonry materials, plumbing materials, and miscellaneous construction materials.

The CMRPI is a variant of the General Retail Price Index (GRPI) that measures the changes in the average retail prices of construction materials.

It covers 102 building materials classified into seven commodity groups: carpentry materials, electrical materials, masonry materials, painting materials and related compounds, plumbing materials, tinsmithry materials, and miscellaneous construction materials.

Prices for the CMRPI and the CWMPI were collected through actual price quotations from selected sample outlets in NCR.