Year-on-Year

On an annual basis, the Construction Materials Wholesale Price Index (CMWPI) in the National Capital Region (NCR) further moved upward by 2.8 percent in August 2017. It was recorded at 1.7 percent in July 2017 and August 2016. A double-digit annual increase was still noted in fuels and lubricants index at 16.3 percent. Contributing also to the uptrend were higher annual mark-ups posted in the indices of the following commodity groups:

• Sand and Gravel (2.7%);
• Concrete Products (0.7%);
• Hardware (1.4%);
• Lumber (2.6%);
• Reinforcing Steel (1.5%);
• Structural Steel (2.8%);
• Tileworks (2.4%); and
• Painting Works (1.3%).

Meanwhile, slower annual gains were seen in the indices of doors, jambs, and steel casement at 3.3 percent and plumbing fixtures and accessories/waterworks, 0.9 percent. Moreover, annual decreases were still registered in the indices of cement at -4.0 percent; plywood, -0.7 percent; and PVC pipes, -0.2 percent. The rest of the commodity groups either retained their previous month’s rate or had zero growth (see Table 2).

Month-on-Month

The month-on-month change of the CMWPI in NCR picked up by 0.8 percent in August 2017. In the previous month, its rate was posted at 0.1 percent. The index of reinforcing steel rose by 1.0 percent from -0.9 percent in the previous month. In addition, a higher increment was recorded in the index of fuels and lubricants at 3.8 percent. From a zero growth in July 2017, the indices of the following commodity groups went up during the month:

• Concrete Products (0.4%);
• Hardware and Tileworks (0.6%);
• Plywood (0.1%);
• Lumber (0.7%); and
• Structural Steel (1.0%).

The index of sand and gravel however, moved up at a slower pace of 0.2 percent and painting works, 0.1 percent. Moreover, declines were noted in the indices of cement at -0.5 percent and doors, jambs, and steel casement and plumbing fixtures and accessories/waterworks, -0.2 percent. The rest of the commodity groups exhibited zero growth (see Table 3).