The construction materials price index for nonresidential buildings fell 0.3% in April extending the decline since the September index peak to 13.1%. Prices for the mix of materials used in nonresidential construction prices are back to the December 2007 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 but be rising modestly again by the end of the year and rising more quickly next year, perhaps up 4–5% from the 2009 average.
April's price drop was led by structural steel (7.3%) and plywood (-3.3%). The only significant April price increases were for diesel (20.5%) and nonferrous pipe and tube (20.9%) which had both declined in March. Rising scrap and ore prices mean rising nonferrous product prices for at least several months. The Energy Department reports that diesel pump prices were unchanged from the April to the May price survey week.
Percent Change in ..... | 1 month | 3 months | 12 months | 3 years |
Source: Producer Price Index. Bureau of Labor Statistics | ||||
Construction commodities | ||||
Cement | 0.8 | -0.2 | 0.0 | 6.1 |
Construction sand, gravel & crushed stone | 0.5 | 1.4 | 5.5 | 23.1 |
Softwood plywood | -3.3 | -4.9 | -12.7 | -21.1 |
Softwood lumber | 1.6 | -2.6 | -10.7 | -32.5 |
Manufactured materials | ||||
Gypsum products | -0.2 | -1.2 | 5.3 | -17.5 |
Diesel fuel | 20.5 | -2.6 | -56.2 | -30.6 |
Paint | 0.1 | 0.1 | 12.4 | 22.5 |
Plastic construction products | -0.5 | -0.6 | 3.0 | 1.9 |
Vitreous plumbing fixtures | 2.3 | 2.4 | 4.2 | -1.9 |
Ceramic tile | -2.0 | -1.4 | -0.2 | 1.6 |
Flat glass | -0.4 | -1.0 | 2.9 | 2.7 |
Hot-rolled bars, plates, and structural shapes | -7.3 | -15.7 | -25.9 | -2.0 |
Extruded aluminum rod, bar, and other shapes | 1.2 | -4.3 | -26.3 | -18.2 |
Architectural metalwork | 0.6 | -2.4 | 12.1 | 24.7 |
Metal plumbing fixtures | 0.5 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 13.1 |
Builders' hardware | 0.5 | -2.7 | 6.8 | 20.4 |
Sheet metal products | -0.6 | -3.6 | 0.2 | 9.9 |
Nonferrous pipe and tube | 20.9 | 26.7 | -28.5 | -1.3 |
Building brick | 0.5 | -0.2 | 0.1 | 0.8 |
Ready-mix concrete | -1.0 | -1.9 | 3.4 | 10.7 |
Concrete block and brick | 0.3 | -0.1 | 3.3 | 10.1 |
Millwork (window, door, cabinet) | -0.2 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 5.3 |
Engineered wood products | -1.3 | -3.3 | -2.6 | -14.6 |
Metal doors, sash, and trim | -0.8 | 0.2 | 5.4 | 9.2 |
Summary | ||||
Construction materials (commodity level) | -2.3 | -3.1 | -1.7 | 4.9 |
Inputs to construction industries | -0.4 | -1.6 | -3.6 | 6.4 |
Inputs to nonresidential construction | -0.3 | -1.6 | -5.2 | 6.3 |
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Lifestyle Hotel Trends Around the World
When the Rocco Forte Collection opens the Verdura Golf & Spa Resort in Sicily in early 2009, the 200-room luxury property will be one of the world's newest lifestyle hotels. Lifestyle hotels cater to guests seeking a heightened travel experience, which they deliver by offering distinctive—some would say avant-garde, or even outrageous—architecture, room design, amenities, and en...
| Aug 11, 2010
Special Recognition: Kingswood School Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
Kingswood School is perhaps the best example of Eliel Saarinen's work in North America. Designed in 1930 by the Finnish-born architect, the building was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie Style, with wide overhanging hipped roofs, long horizontal bands of windows, decorative leaded glass doors, and asymmetrical massing of elements.
| Aug 11, 2010
Giants 300 Index and Methodology
BD+C's annual Giants 300 list consists of U.S. firms that designed or constructed the largest volume of commercial, institutional, industrial, and multifamily residential buildings in 2008. Each spring, the editors survey the country's largest firms, ranking the top 300 across six categories: architects, architect/engineers, engineers, engineer/architects, contractors, and construction managers.
| Aug 11, 2010
The pride of Pasadena
As a shining symbol of civic pride in Los Angeles County, Pasadena City Hall stood as the stately centerpiece of Pasadena's Civic Center since 1927. To the casual observer, the rectangular edifice, designed by San Francisco Classicists John Bakewell, Jr., and Arthur Brown, Jr., appeared to be aging gracefully.
| Aug 11, 2010
Education's Big Upgrade
Forty-five percent of the country's elementary, middle, and high schools were built between 1950 and 1969 and will soon reach the end of their usefulness, according to the 2005–2008 K-12 School Market for Design & Construction Firms, published by ZweigWhite, a Massachusetts-based market-research firm.
| Aug 11, 2010
Great Solutions: Technology
19. Hybrid Geothermal Technology The team at Stantec saved $800,000 in construction costs by embedding geothermal piping into the structural piles at the WestJet office complex in Calgary, Alb., rather than drilling boreholes adjacent to the building site, which is the standard approach. Regular geothermal installation would have required about 200 boreholes, each about four-inches in diameter ...