flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Nonresidential building materials prices drop 0.6%

Nonresidential building materials prices drop 0.6%


August 11, 2010
This article first appeared in the 200905 issue of BD+C.

The construction materials price index for nonresidential buildings fell 0.6% in March extending the decline since the September peak to 12.8%. Materials prices are back to the January 2008 level before the 14% jump in prices from March through September. The materials price index is expected to decline slowly for a few more months and then rise modestly by the end of the year. The index will rise more quickly next year, perhaps up 4-5% from the 2009 average.

March's price drop was led by diesel fuel (-8.9%), structural steel (-6.4%), and lumber (-3.5%). Weekly price reports assure that diesel prices will be higher in April. Another decline in steel and steel product prices is assured by the 8.3% March decline in steel scrap prices in a still weakening world economy. Softwood lumber prices are 11% below a year ago and 35% below three years ago. Yet they are likely to drop marginally lower in the next few months before a pickup in residential construction begins as early as this summer.

Components used in housing, such as lumber, gypsum, and low-rise roofing, have the most risk of price increase over the next year as the housing market begins to recover later this year.

—Jim Haughey, BD+C Economist and Chief Economist for Reed Construction Data

Percent change in: 1 month 3 months 12 months
Source: Producer Price Index. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Construction commodities
Cement 0.1 0.2 -0.4
Construction sand, gravel, crushed stone 0.0 2.3 6.1
Softwood plywood -0.8 -4.0 -9.8
Softwood lumber -3.5 -7.4 -11.1
Manufactured materials
Gypsum products 0.0 -0.1 5.7
Diesel fuel -8.9 -22.7 -62.7
Paint 0.0 0.0 12.2
Plastic construction products 0.1 0.2 3.5
Vitreous plumbing fixtures 0.0 0.1 1.9
Ceramic tile 1.9 0.9 1.6
Flat glass -0.8 -2.3 2.4
Hot-rolled bars, plates, structural shapes -6.4 -12.0 -15.1
Extruded aluminum rod, bar, shapes -2.3 -12.5 -23.9
Architectural metalwork -1.6 -5.6 13.9
Metal plumbing fixtures 0.3 0.1 2.6
Builders' hardware -0.1 -2.9 8.2
Sheet metal products -1.8 -3.2 2.9
Nonferrous pipe and tube -1.0 -1.4 -41.3
Building brick -1.1 -0.8 -1.0
Ready-mix concrete -0.7 1.4 4.8
Concrete block and brick 3.3 4.1 8.0
Millwork (window, door, cabinet) 0.3 1.1 2.0
Engineered wood products 0.8 -3.9 -0.9
Metal doors, sash, trim 1.6 0.4 5.4
Summary
Construction materials (commodity level) 0.3 -1.5 2.0
Inputs to construction industries -0.6 -1.5 -2.1
Inputs to nonresidential construction -0.6 -1.7 -3.7

boombox1
boombox2
native1
halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021