Prices of construction materials in Metro Manila increased at their slowest pace in more than five years in May 2024, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The PSA’s Construction Materials Wholesale Price Index (CMWPI) for the National Capital Region (NCR) rose 0.6 percent in May, down from 0.7 percent in April and a significant drop from 6.6 percent a year ago. This marks the slowest increase since the PSA began using 2018 data for the index.
“The deceleration in the annual growth rate of CMWPI was mainly caused by the slower annual increase of electrical works at 1.7 percent in May 2024 from 2.6 percent in April 2024,” the PSA said.
The agency reported slower annual increases in other categories compared to April: hardware (2.7 percent from 3.0 percent), plywood (1.4 percent from 1.5 percent), lumber (0.4 percent from 0.5 percent) and galvanized iron sheets (3.1 percent from 3.2 percent).
Slower growth was also observed in structural steel (1.1 percent from 1.6 percent) doors, jambs and steel casements (0.9 percent from 1.0 percent), painting works (1.6 percent from 1.9 percent) and PVC pipes (0.7 percent from 0.9 percent).
Prices for sand and gravel even dipped slightly year-on-year, with a 0.6-percent decline in May compared to a 1.2-percent increase in April. The index for tileworks also showed an annual decrease of 1.0 percent in May, following a 0.2-percent drop in April.
Other categories saw higher annual growth: metal products (1.0 percent from 0.7 percent) and fuels and lubricants (15.3 percent from 10.9 percent). The index for plumbing fixtures and accessories/waterworks saw a slight increase of 0.5 percent in May compared to a 0.2-percent decrease in April.
The PSA noted that the annual decline in cement prices slowed down to 2.1 percent in May from 2.5 percent in April. The annual decrease for reinforcing steel eased to 1.0 percent in May from 1.1 percent in April.
The indices for other commodity groups remained unchanged from April or showed no annual growth in May.
