r - revised

• Year-on-Year

  The annual growth of the Construction Materials Wholesale Price Index (CMWPI) in the National Capital Region (NCR) slowed down to 0.2 percent in March 2016. Last month, it went up by 0.4 percent while in March 2015, it declined by 0.7 percent. The annual adjustments in the indices of lumber dropped by 0.2 percent; G.I. sheet, -2.4 percent; structural steel, -3.8 percent; tileworks, -0.1 percent, painting works, -0.6 percent, PVC pipes, -1.0 percent; and fuels and lubricants, -8.1 percent. Moreover, slower annual increments were observed in the following indices: plywood, 1.6 percent; reinforcing steel, 1.5 percent; doors, jambs, and steel casement, 0.1 percent; electrical works, 2.2 percent; and plumbing fixtures and accessories/waterworks, 4.3 percent. On the other hand, faster annual rates were seen in the indices of sand and gravel at 4.1 percent; concrete products, 2.1 percent; cement, 0.6 percent; and hardware, 1.1 percent. The rest of the commodity groups posted a flat growth during the month (Table 2).

  

• Month-on-Month

  On a monthly basis, wholesale prices of selected construction materials in NCR generally went up by 0.2 percent in March 2016 after it declined by 0.1 percent last month. Higher monthly rates were noted in the indices of sand and gravel at 2.3 percent; concrete products, 0.4 percent; cement, 0.8 percent; hardware, 0.4 percent; plywood and electrical works, 0.1 percent; plumbing fixtures and accessories, 0.2 percent; and fuels and lubricants, 2.9 percent. However, the indices of lumber and structural steel both dropped by 0.1 percent; reinforcing steel, -1.9 percent; and tileworks, -0.3 percent. The rest of the commodity groups registered a flat growth (Table 3).

  Price increases were posted in sand, gravel, selected concrete products, cement, nails and petroleum products. On the contrary, prices of selected steel and flat bars were lower during the month.