Materials Trends
Prices are updated monthly by ENR's price reporters who call a single source for each product in 20 U.S. cities. The price represents that paid by a contractor for a specified large order. Monthly prices appear on the weekly rotating cycle.
Cement/Concrete/Aggregate
Prices for 21 products covering asphalt, cement, aggregates, concrete, brick, concrete block and mason's lime
 | Revision Pushes Up ENRs Cement Price Price quotes from a new source in Chicago adjusted that city’s portland cement price up from $86 a ton to $106. That adjustment accounted for most of this month’s 1% increase in ENR’s 20-city average price for the commodity, which starts the year 3.7% above January 2011’s level. Without this upward revision, cement price would continue to show weakness. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ producer price index for cement declined 0.7% last October, after increasing 1.5% the previous month. This decline helped to hold the PPI for cement 2.2% below October 2010’s level. A year ago, the PPI posted a 5.3% annual decline. |
Pipe
Prices for 20 pipe products covering reinforced concrete pipe, corrugated steel pipe, vitrified clay pipe, PE underdrain, PVC sewer and water pipe, ductile iron pipe and copper water tubing.
 | Pipe Prices Post Mixed Results Prices for construction pipe products posted varied results this month, with iron and steel pipe prices inching up, PVC pipe prices slipping, and concrete pipe prices holding steady. ENR’s 20-city average price for ductile-iron pipe is up between 8.5% and 12.15% from a year ago. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ producer price index for fabricated metal pipe last October was up 7.1% for the year. ENR’s average for reinforcedconcrete pipe in January was up 4% for the year. The October PPI for RCP was up 2% for the year. Copper pipe prices are set to come down. The PPI in October for copper pipe fell 12% between last August and October. |
Lumber/Drywall
Prices for 18 products covering lumber, plywood, plyform, particle board, gypsum wallboard and insulation.
| Lumber Prices Continue To Decline Lumber prices found a new bottom in December, as ENR’s 20-city average price for the most commonly used species of 2 X 4s slipped another 0.1% to end the year 1.8% below 2010’s depressed level. Mill prices for softwood framing lumber tracked by Eugene, Ore.-based Random Lengths in November average $257 per thousand board ft. That was down 4.8% from last July and 6.6% from a year ago. ENR’s 20-city average price for plywood declined 0.3% this month, ending the year 0.6% below December 2010. Gypsum wallboard prices also declined 0.3% this month, ending the year 1.4% below 2010. |
Steel
Prices for 16 products covering structural steel, reinforcing bar, steel plate, metal lath, aluminum sheet, stainless steel sheet and plate and H-piles.
 | Steel Prices End Year With Strong Gain Structural steel prices ended 2011 with an average annual increase of 8.0%, according to ENR’s 20-city average price, which included increases of 9.1% for I-beams, 8.1% for channel beams and 6.7% for wide-flange beams. The annual increase mostly resulted from a large price spike during the first half 2011 (see charts below). The structural steel component of the LSI cost index for last September was up 5.5% for the year, according to Mary Waller, president of Sierra West, which supplied the index for ENR’s Fourth Quarterly Cost Report. LSI’s rebar component price was up 7.1%. |
Materials Price Index
The Materials Cost Index is the materials component of ENR’s building and construction cost indexes. It tracks the weighted price movement of structural steel, portland cement and 2 X 4 lumber.
