Construction input prices fall

Published September 16, 2019 by Robert Powell, III

Construction input prices fell slightly last month and are down nearly 1% year over year, according to an analysis by the Associated Builders and Contractors.

The analysis is based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data released last week.

Overall construction input prices dropped 0.6% in August and were down 0.9% compared to the same month in 2018.

In addition, nonresidential construction input prices fell 0.4% for the month and are down 0.4% compared to August 2018.

In seven subcategories seeing a decline in prices during the past year, the greatest drops were in energy-related categories like natural gas (-33.3%), unprocessed energy materials (-19.1%) and crude petroleum (-15.7%).

Three other subcategories registered year-over-year declines greater than 10%: softwood lumber (-11.7%), iron and steel (-10.7%) and steel mill products (-10.6%).