Costs of building materials fall to 7-month low in February

MANILA, Philippines — Retail prices of construction materials in the National Capital Region decelerated in February, hitting a seven-month low due mainly to weak demand, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The Construction Materials Retail Price Index (CMRPI) in the National Capital Region moved downward to 1.1 percent from 1.2 percent January. The same rate was recorded in February 2020.

The decline indicated a slower construction activity during the review period, the PSA said.

Annual increments were slower in the indexes of carpentry materials at 1.4 percent, electrical and plumbing materials, both at 0.5 percent, and painting materials and related compounds at 0.7 percent.

Faster growth, meanwhile, was seen in tinsmithry materials at 1.8 percent and miscellaneous construction materials at 0.8 percent.

The index of masonry materials retained its previous month’s rate of 1.5 percent.

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 uses 2012 as the base year.

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 are collected through personal interviews or actual price quotations from selected sample outlets in NCR. Collection of prices is done during the first to third week of the reference month.