Prices of construction materials ease in March

MANILA, Philippines — Prices of building materials —both wholesale and retail—eased in March because of slower increases in the prices of key building materials, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

Growth in the Construction Materials Wholesale Price Index (CMWPI) continued to decelerate for the third straight month in March to 3.3 percent compared with 3.8 percent in February 2019 and four percent in March 2018.

Compared with annual rates in February, slower annual markups were seen for the following commodity groups:  cement and concrete products; hardware; lumber; reinforcing and structural steel, and tileworks; doors, jams, and steel casement; and electrical works.

Faster annual markups, meanwhile, were seen in indices of the following commodity groups: sand and gravel; plywood; galvanized iron sheets; plumbing fixtures, and accessories for waterworks; painting works; as well as fuels and lubricants.

The CMWPI, which covers 18 commodity groups, is used for the computation of price escalation of construction materials for various government projects as required by the law. It uses 2000 as the base year. 

Retail prices likewise grew at a slower pace of 1.9 percent in March from 2.4 percent in February 2019  and 2.3 percent in March 2018.

Slower annual markups were seen in the indices of the following commodity groups: carpentry materials; electrical materials; masonry materials; painting materials and related compounds; plumbing materials; and miscellaneous construction materials.

On the other hand, a higher annual growth of 1.6 percent was seen in the tinsmithry materials index

The Construction Materials Retail Price Index (CMRPI) is a variant of the General Retail Price Index 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 CMWPI and 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.