Construction price index in Metro Manila drops

The year-on-year growth of the Construction Materials Wholesale Price Index (CMWPI) in the National Capital Region (NCR) continued to drop as it shrunk 0.8 percent in October of this year.

Based on National Statistics Office (NSO) data the CMWP went down by 1.1 percent in October 2015 from 1.6 percent during the same period in 2014.

Downward movements were posted in the indices of cement at -1.2 percent and -15.7 percent in fuels and lubricants.

Slowdowns in growth were also seen in the indices of concrete products at 1.8 percent; plywood, 3.0 percent; lumber, 0.3 percent; G.I. sheet, structural steel and painting works, 0.6 percent; doors, jambs and steel casement, 0.5 percent; electrical works, 2.2 percent; plumbing fixtures and accessories, 5.4 percent; and PVC pipes, 1.8 percent.

On the other hand, the hardware index moved up by 2.5 percent while the rest of the commodity groups retained their last month’s rates. The glass and glass products index registered a zero growth. From a month ago level, wholesale prices of selected construction materials inched up 0.1 percent in October. It resulted from the upticks in fuels and lubricants index at 0.6 percent; hardware index, 0.3 percent; and plywood index, 0.2 percent.

However, the cement index declined by 0.2 percent. Moreover, a slower gain was observed in plumbing fixtures and accessories index at 0.1 percent. The indices of sand and gravel and electrical works moved at their respective last month’s rates of 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent while the other commodity groups had zero growths.

Price hikes were noticed in gasoline, diesel, sand and gravel, some hardware items, plywood, selected electrical wires and plumbing fixtures and accessories. Meanwhile, reduction in the prices of cement was noted during the month.