Year-on-Year

The annual rate of change of Construction Materials Wholesale Price Index (CMWPI) in the National Capital Region (NCR) moves upward during the month

The annual rate of CMWPI in NCR picked up by 5.7 percent in December 2018. Its annual growth in November 2018 was recorded at 5.6 percent and in December 2017, 2.4 percent. Compared with their annual rates in November 2018, annual mark-ups were higher in the indices of the following commodity groups:

• Sand and Gravel, 8.7%
• Concrete Products and Cement, 6.7%
• Reinforcing and Structural Steel, 6.5%
• Tileworks, 3.3%
• Electrical Works, 9.6%
• Painting Works, 0.9%

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

• Hardware, 6.4%
• Plywood, 2.7%
• Lumber, 9.4%
• G.I. Sheet, 1.0%
• Doors, Jambs, and Steel Casement, 3.4%
• Plumbing Fixtures and Accessories/Waterworks, 1.7%
• Fuels and Lubricants, 13.8%

The rest of the commodity groups retained their previous month’s annual rates with the indices of glass and glass products; asphalt; and machinery and equipment rental exhibiting a zero growth.

The average annual rate of CMWPI for the year 2018 rose by 4.7 percent from 1.7 percent in 2017 as 12 out of 17 commodity groups posted higher average annual increases during the year (see Table 2).

Month-on-Month

CMWPI at NCR moves up at a slower rate

The month-on-month increase of CMWPI in NCR decelerated to 0.2 percent in December 2018. Its rate in the previous month was recorded at 1.3 percent. Declines were posted in the indices of plywood at 0.4 percent; tileworks, 0.1 percent; and fuels and lubricants, 2.6 percent. Slower monthly increments were also noted in the indices of the following commodity groups:

• Concrete Products and Cement, 0.2%
• Reinforcing and Structural Steel, 0.2%
• Doors, Jambs, and Steel Casement, 0.1%
• Electrical Works, 0.2%

Meanwhile, uptick in the index of sand and gravel was higher by 1.0 percent. Moreover, the index of painting works inched up by 0.01 percent from a decline of 0.1 percent in the previous month. From a zero growth in the previous month, the index of hardware went up by 0.2 percent. The rest of the commodity groups had zero growth during the period (see Table 3).

Price hikes were observed in gravel, concrete drainage pipe, selected hardware products, flat bar, PVC door, and selected electrical products. On the other hand, prices of petroleum products such as gasoline and diesel went down during the month.