Year-on-Year

The year-on-year change of the Construction Materials Retail Price Index (CMRPI) in the National Capital Region (NCR) picked up by 2.0 percent in January 2018. Its annual growth in the previous month was pegged at 1.7 percent while in January 2017, it was recorded at 2.2 percent. All commodity groups registered higher annual increments during the month:

• Carpentry Materials (1.0%);
• Electrical Materials (1.4%);
• Masonry Materials (2.9%);
• Painting Materials and Related Compounds (1.4%);
• Plumbing Materials (0.8%);
• Tinsmithry Materials (1.0%); and
• Miscellaneous Construction Materials (9.8%) (see Table 2).

Month-on-Month

Measured from a month ago level, the CMRPI in NCR inched up by 0.1 percent in January 2018. It was the same rate posted in December 2017. The index of painting materials and related compounds went up by 0.2 percent from -0.1 percent in the previous month. The indices of plumbing materials and tinsmithry materials likewise picked up by 0.2 percent and masonry materials, 0.3 percent. On the other hand, the increment in miscellaneous construction materials index was slower at 0.4 percent. The carpentry materials index moved at its previous month’s rate of 0.1 percent while that for electrical materials index continued to register zero growth (see Table 3).

Upward adjustments were seen in the prices of lumber, plywood, common wire nails, finishing nails, electrical wires, cement, gravel, sand, hollow blocks, paints, G.I. pipes, G.I. sheet and steel bars. Lower prices were however, seen in electrical switch, lockset and conduit pipe during the month.