The price of construction materials rose for the third consecutive month in March.
Construction input (materials) prices increased 0.5% in March, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data. Commercial construction input prices increased 0.9% for the month, and are up 42.8% from February 2020.
Overall and nonresidential construction input prices are 0.8% higher than one year ago, with commercial construction prices specifically up 1.7%.
Crude petroleum prices fell considerably in March, but the decline was more than offset by rapidly rising natural gas (up 10.4%), steel (up 7.1%), copper wire and cable ( up 5.5%) and softwood lumber prices (up 4.7%).
In other month-over-month price increase, prices rose 2.3% for fabricated structural metal products, and were up 2% for adhesives and sealants.
“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.”
Contractors remain busy for the time being, according to ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator. But 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, according to Basu.
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Associated Builders and Contractors is a national construction industry trade association established in 1950 with 67 chapters and more than 23,000 members.