Prices of construction materials up in October

MANILA, Philippines — Metro Manila’s retail prices of construction materials in October posted their fastest growth rate in over a year due to higher increases in four commodity groups.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the Construction Materials Retail Price Index (CMRPI) in the National Capital Region (NCR) registered a 1.5 percent growth in October, faster than the 1.2 percent increase in September.

This is the fastest CMRPI growth rate since the 1.9 percent uptick in June last year.

The October CMRPI growth is also higher than the 1.1 percent increase in the same month last year.

“The primary contributor to the uptrend in the annual rate of CMRPI in NCR was the higher annual increase observed in the heavily-weighted tinsmithry materials index at 2.3 percent in October 2024 from 1.5percent in the previous month,” the PSA said.

It also said three other commodity groups posted higher increases in October.

In particular, carpentry materials registered a 0.9 percent growth in October from the previous month’s 0.7 percent increase.

Painting materials and related compounds grew by 2.5 percent in October, faster than the 2.1-percent uptick in September.

Plumbing materials also registered a slightly faster growth rate of one percent in October from the previous month’s 0.8 percent.

Masonry materials registered a 0.1 percent increase in October from a 0.1 percent decline in September.

On the other hand, growth in miscellaneous construction materials slowed to 1.1 percent in October from 1.5 percent in the previous month.

Electrical materials posted a 1.7 percent growth in October, unchanged from the previous month.

From January to October, CMRPI growth averaged 1.1 percent.