Wholesale construction material prices up 2.3%

WHOLESALE prices of construction materials in Metro Manila inched up to 2.3 percent in January from 2.2 percent in December, according to the latest Construction Materials Wholesale Price Index (CMWPI) of the National Statistics Office (NSO).

Annual gains in the following indices increased during the month: cement, reinforcing steel, tileworks, electrical works, and plumbing fixtures and accessories/waterworks.

The NSO data said that the fuels and lubricants index continued to post a negative rate of 1.7 percent from -1.6 percent.

“The other commodity groups had slower annual increments or retained their last month’s rate, with the machinery and equipment rental index still recording a zero growth,” it stated.

Month- on- month, the CMWPI in Metro Manila grew by 0.2 percent in January from 0.1 percent in December. The data noted that a higher monthly gain was seen in the fuels and lubricants index, cement index, and plumbing fixtures and accessories/waterworks index.

From zero growth, the indices of plywood and structural steel also went up to 0.1 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.

The NSO added the indices of hardware and doors, jambs and steel casement dropped by 0.1 percent, while PVC pipes index, grew 0.2 percent.

Moreover, slower monthly addons were registered in the indices of sand and gravel, G.I. sheet, tileworks and electrical works.