Wholesale prices of construction materials posted a five-year high in November due to more expensive fuel, reinforcing steel and concrete products, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
PSA data released on Monday showed the Construction Materials Wholesale Price Index (CMWPI) in the National Capital Region posted a growth of 4.7 percent in November.
The CMWPI growth was the highest since March 2012 when it posted a growth of 5.2 percent. The index posted a year-on-year growth of 4 percent in October 2017 and 2.1 percent in November 2016.
“The double-digit annual growth in fuels and lubricants index further accelerated by 18.3 percent. Moreover, higher annual gains were posted in [other] indices,” the PSA said.
Data showed that reinforcing steel and concrete products were among the main reasons for the increase, with a growth of 4.2 percent and 3.5 percent.
Further, PSA data showed concrete products, reinforcing steel and fuels and lubricants had the biggest weight in terms of computing the index.
Concrete products had a weight of 43.87-percent in the index, followed by reinforcing steel with 12.131 percent and fuels and lubricants with 9.091 percent.
The PSA, however, said that, in terms of the month-on-month growth, the CMWPI in Metro Manila saw a 0.1- percent decline in November, from 1.2 percent in October.
Concrete products and galvanized iron (GI) sheets posted slower increases in November, as well as tile works and plumbing fixtures and accessories/waterworks, plywood and lumber.
“Hollow blocks, concrete drainage pipe, cement, tie wire, nails, plywood, lumber, GI sheets, steel bars, door and circuit breaker were priced higher during the period. Similarly, petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel and bunker oil went up in November. On the other hand, price decreases were observed in grout and faucet this month,” the PSA added.
The CMWPI is a variant of the General Wholesale Price Index that measures the changes in the average wholesale prices of construction materials. It is used for the computation of price escalation of construction materials for various government projects.
It is computed using the weighted arithmetic mean of price relatives, a variant of the Laspeyres formula with fixed base year period weights.
The current CMWPI market basket considered those construction materials prevailing in 2000. The market basket for the 2000-based series includes 108 items.
Image credits: Alysa Salen