Vol. XXI, No. 183-A [ Business World Online ]
Saturday, April 19, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
The Construction Materials Wholesale Price Index in the National Capital Region, or Metro Manila, rose 5.4% in March from the same month last year, compared to 4.7% year on year in February, the National Statistics Office said in a statement yesterday.
Annual price gains were higher in sand, stone and gravel, cement, fuels and lubricants, asphalt, PVC pipes, reinforcing steel, structural steel, interior electrical fixtures and devices, electrical rough-in materials and UPVC water pipes.
Slower annual inflation rate was noted in concrete products.
There was also an annual price reduction in machinery and equipment rental at -8.7% from -9.2%.
The rest of the commodity groups retained their previous month's rates, while inflation for blasting materials was zero.
The same index, on a monthly basis, rose 0.9% in March from 0.4% in February.
This was mainly due to the 6.1% increment in the inflation of asphalt from zero growth last month.
Higher growth rates in the prices of the following commodity groups also contributed to the uptrend: cement, 0.6 % from 0.5%; fuels and lubricants, 2.1% from -1.8%; reinforcing steel, 1.6% from zero growth; structural steel, 3.5% from 0.6%; interior electrical fixtures and devices, 2.9% from 1.2%; machinery and equipment rental, 0.8% from -0.4%; and electrical rough-in materials, 3.2 % from 1.1%.
On the other hand, price increases were slower in hardware, PVC pipes, concrete products and UPVC water pipes.
Price hike in sand, stone and gravel was still at 0.3%, while prices for the other commodity groups generally remained stable at zero growth during the month.
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