Year-on-Year

The year-on-year increment in the Construction Materials Wholesale Price Index (CMWPI) in the National Capital Region (NCR) eased to 2.2 percent in February from 2.4 percent last month. It resulted from a slow-paced growth in cement index at 5.3 percent in February from 5.5 percent in January; reinforcing steel index, 0.8 percent from 1.2 percent; structural steel index, 1.5 percent from 1.7 percent; tileworks index, 4.7 percent from 5.3 percent; doors, jambs and steel casement index, 2.3 percent from 2.4 percent; and fuels and lubricants index, 0.8 percent from 2.6 percent. The rest of the commodity groups had higher annual increases or retained their last month’s rate with the machinery and equipment rental index still recording a zero growth.
 

 

 

Month-on-Month

From previous month’s growth of 0.2 percent, the CMWPI went up but at a slower rate of 0.1 percent. Declines were registered in the indices of structural steel at -0.2 percent in February from 0.6 percent in January and reinforcing steel and doors, jambs and steel casement, -0.4 percent and -0.1 percent, respectively from 0.1 percent increase. Slower monthly mark-ups were likewise posted in the following indices: sand and gravel, 0.2 percent from 1.9 percent; lumber, 0.8 percent from 1.1 percent; G.I. sheet, 0.5 percent from 1.5 percent; and tileworks, 0.1 percent from 1.6 percent. On the other hand, higher monthly rates were seen in the indices of concrete products, cement, hardware, plywood, painting works, and fuels and lubricants. The other commodity groups remained stable as they posted a zero growth.

Prices of gravel, sand, hollow blocks, cement, selected hardware items, lumber, G.I. sheets and some electrical works were on the uptrend. Moreover, diesel and fuel oil were also priced higher during the month. Meanwhile, prices of steel bars, angle bars and some door casings were on the downtrend.