Building Materials Price Inflation: April 2002

Average construction material/supply prices rose a modest 0.3% between March and April, following a steeper 0.7% average price increase the month before. The producer price index for construction materials has now risen for three consecutive months. Compared to April of last year, average prices received by U.S. manufacturers of construction supplies and materials during April 2002 were up 0.6%, following a decline of 0.9% between 2000 and 2001.

Overall lumber prices moved higher for the fourth month in a row during April. However the 0.3% March-to-April change was much smaller than the average monthly increase of 2.2% recorded over the first three months of this year. The price index covering all softwood and hardwood lumber was 6.7% higher during April 2002 than it had been during the final month of 2001. Average lumber prices this April were 3.0% higher than during April of last year. Between 2000 and 2001, the annual average composite lumber price index fell by 4.1% on the heels of a 5.0% decline the year before.

Gypsum product prices rose by 2.1% between March and April, after having declined during three of the previous four months.. On an annual average basis of measure, gypsum products purchased throughout the course of 2001 cost builders and remodelers 22.3% less than during 2000 (at mid-year, gypsum prices were more than 30% lower than a year earlier). But this April, average gypsum product prices were a modest 5.6% higher than during April of 2001.

Average prices for ceramic floor and wall tile (+0.4%), ready-mix concrete (+0.3%), and asphalt/tar shingles (+0.2%) also moved moderately higher during the latest month. Small average price declines were recorded in the paving asphalt (-0.4%), lighting fixtures (-0.1%) and plumbing fixtures (-0.1%) product categories.

Average prices were lower this April than during April 2001 for tile products (-18.3%), structural steel (-1.6%), flat glass (-1.2%), lighting fixtures (-0.5%), and paving asphalt (-0.2%). Prices have risen over the past twelve months for gypsum products (+5.6%), lumber (+3.0%), unitary air-conditioning units (+1.9%), plumbing products (+0.7%), and asphalt/tar shingles (+0.7%).. The price composite covering the full range of construction materials and supplies was 0.6% higher this April than during April of 2001.