Tracking 10 commodities
The Producer Price Index for final demand decreased 0.4 percent in March, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday morning.
That’s the first time the PPI fell since October of 2023. But construction input prices increased 0.5% in March, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of the data. Nonresidential construction input prices increased 0.6% for the month.
The stats are released into a business climate clouded by the prospects of inflation and tariffs and concern over potential trade wars.
Softwood lumber showed a 3.2 percent increase from February to March, and a 12.6 percent increase year over year. Here’s a detailed look at ten commodities of interest to the hardware and building supply industry:
“Construction input prices increased at a rapid pace for the third consecutive month in March and have now risen at a 9.7% annualized rate through the first quarter of 2025,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “The emerging effects of tariffs are glaring in the March data release, with iron and steel, steel mill products and copper wire and cable prices all rising more than 5% for the month. While contractors remain busy for the time being, according to ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator, this pace of input price escalation, coupled with rising uncertainty, will cause projects to be delayed and canceled if it persists for any meaningful length of time.”
