Year-on-Year

On an annual basis, the Construction Materials Wholesale PriceIndex (CMWPI) in the National Capital Region (NCR) accelerated by 8.0 percent in September 2018. Its annual growth in August 2018 was recorded at 7.9 percent and 3.2 percent in September 2017. Compared with their annual rates in August 2018, higher annual mark-ups were posted in the indices of the following commodity groups:

• Sand and Gravel, 2.5%;
• Concrete Products,4.5%;
• Plywood, 4.0%;
• Lumber, 9.4%;
• G.I. Sheet, 1.9%;
• Electrical Works, 9.9%;
• Plumbing Fixtures and Accessories/Waterworks, 2.2%; and
• Fuels and Lubricants, 27.5%.

On the other hand, slower annual increases were seen in the indices of the following commodity groups during the month:

• Cement, 1.2%;
• Hardware, 6.2%;
• Reinforcing Steel, 10.9%;
• Structural Steel, 6.3%;
• Doors, Jambs, and Steel Casement, 2.7%; and
• Painting Works, 0.6%.

The rest of the commodity groups either had zero growth or retained their previous month’s rates (see Table 2).

Month-on-Month

The month-on-month change of the CMWPI in NCR picked up by 0.6 percent in September 2018. Its rate in the previous month was posted at 0.4 percent. The indices of sand and gravel picked up by 0.2 percent; plywood, 0.7 percent; and fuels and lubricants, 3.7 percent. From a zero growth in the previous month, the index of cement rose by 0.3 percent. Slower monthly increases were, however, recorded in the indices of the following commodity groups:

• Hardware, 0.2%;
• Lumber, 0.3%;
• Reinforcing Steel, 0.1%;
• Electrical Works, 0.4%; and
• Painting Works, 0.047%.