Construction Materials Prices Reveal Uneven Mid-Summer Price Increase, Says New Study

After two months of hardly no increases at all, construction input prices saw a 0.4% jump last month, according to a new study conducted by the Associated Builders and Contractors.

The study reveals that overall construction input prices have gone up by some 1.1% over where things stood in July of 2023, with nonresidential construction input prices seeing a 0.8% gain.

Material price increases were seen across the board, with natural gas posting the biggest price gain at 13.3%. Other biggies: unprocessed energy materials, up by 6.2% over last year, and crude petroleum, with a 5.5% increase.

Much less dramatic price gains were seen with brick and structural clay, up by only 0.1%, fabricated structural metal products, also up by 0.1%; and gypsum products, with a small 0.4% gain.

In a statement, Anirban Basu, chief economist with the Associated Builders and Contractors, remarked that “ongoing input price moderation, along with the prospects of lower interest rates by the end of the third quarter, should bolster contractor sentiment in the coming months.”

Actual price declines were noted with copper wire and cable products, down by 3.1%; hot rolled steel bars, off by 0.7%; and lumber and wood products, with a price decrease of 0.5%.

“The price indexes for the two most important categories of wood products, softwood lumber and soft plywood products, have been falling lately,” notes the website YieldPro. “Both indexes are down month-over-month and year-over year and are now less than half of their all-time highs.”

Partly as a result of production shortfalls, the price of lumber per thousand board reached a peak in the spring of 2021 at $1,733. The current price is coming in at nearly $530 per thousand board feet.

By Garry Boulard

Image Credit: Courtesy of Pixabay

No Responses

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.

Leave a Reply

Get stories like these right to your inbox. ​Sign up for our newsletter
Archives
Construction Reporter

Show Password Forgot Password?