Month-on-Month

The Construction Materials Wholesale Price Index (CMWPI) in the National Capital Region (NCR) registered a slower rate of increment of 0.1 percent in March from 0.6 percent in February as prices of structural steel declined to -1.4 percent from zero growth. Moreover, increases in the prices of fuels and lubricants decelerated to 0.7 percent in March from 4.3 percent in February; hardware, 0.1 percent from 1.0 percent; paints, 0.5 percent from 1.4 percent; reinforcing steel and interior electrical fixtures and devices, 0.4 percent from 0.9 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively; and electrical rough-in materials, 0.5 percent from 0.7 percent. On the other hand, higher rates were registered in the prices of sand, stone and gravel (0.7 percent from 0.4 percent) and cement (0.8 percent from 0.6 percent). From zero growth, prices of PVC pipes and UPVC water pipes went up to 1.1 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively. Prices for the rest of the commodity groups generally remained stable as they posted zero growth during the month.