Year-on-Year

The annual growth in the Construction Materials Retail Price Index (CMRPI) in the National Capital Region (NCR) picked-up 1.1 percent in May. It was pegged at 1.0 percent last month and 4.0 percent in May 2013. A faster annual gain was noticed in tinsmithry materials index at 2.9 percent in May; electrical materials index, 1.6 percent; and painting materials and related compounds index, 0.9 percent. On the other hand, annual increments in the indices of carpentry materials and masonry materials correspondingly decelerated to 1.2 percent and 2.3 percent. The plumbing and miscellaneous construction materials indices registered annual decreases of 0.3 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively.

Month-on-Month

Compared from a month ago level, the CMRPI in NCR advanced 0.3 percent in May. Contributing to the uptrend were the higher monthly increases in the following indices: miscellaneous construction materials, 0.8 percent; tinsmithry materials, 0.5 percent; painting materials and related compounds, 0.4 percent; and masonry materials, 0.1 percent. The electrical materials index had a slower monthly growth of 0.1 percent while carpentry materials index retained its previous month rate of 0.1 percent. The index of plumbing materials had a zero growth during the month.

Price hikes were seen in steel bars, corrugated GI sheets, selected paints and related compounds, plywood, lockset, wiring devices, cement and hollow blocks.