The escalation in retail construction material prices within the National Capital Region (NCR) descended to an eight-month minimum in February, as reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Friday.
Initial figures from the PSA indicated that the construction materials retail price index (CMRPI) decelerated to 1.1% in February, down from 1.2% logged in January. The index maintained its level from February of the previous year.
This represented the least robust reading in eight months, or since the 1% growth noted in June 2024.
Year-to-date, the CMRPI averaged 1.1%, slightly lower than the 1.2% average recorded in January-February 2023.
The PSA noted that six out of seven commodity categories exhibited slower annual growths in February, with plumbing materials spearheading the downward movement as the index dipped to 0.4% from 0.8% in January.
Plumbing materials ranked as the second most significant commodity in the index, comprising 17.3% of the CMRPI.
Additional commodity categories also registered slower price escalations, such as miscellaneous construction materials (0.4% in February, down from 0.6% in January), tinsmithry materials (1.5% from 1.6%), carpentry materials (0.9% from 1.0%), electrical materials (1.7% from 1.8%), and masonry materials (0.2% from 0.3%).
Only the index for painting materials and related substances experienced a rise to 2.7% from 2.2%. — P.O.A. Montalvo
