Cement prices drop 3.4% in May

Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi (SCAD) issued today its monthly report on the prices of building materials for the month of May 2012, which presents an analysis of the movements in the prices of the various materials used in the construction industry in Abu Dhabi market during May 2012 compared with April 2012 and May 2011.

The dissemination of the report, which presents a wide range of price data, is intended to serve the needs of data users in the public and private sectors in research, planning and decision making in ways that support the construction sector, besides related and dependent sectors.

As SCAD's report reveals, the average prices of several building materials groups have undergone changes during May 2012, compared with April 2012. Prominent among these was the rise of 12.1 per cent in the average cost of "Construction labour", reflecting increases in the prices of most of the items under this group in the range of 6.7 per cent for "Semi-skilled workers" to 17.6 per cent for "Surveyors".

The average price of "Sanitary ware- bathroom set without accessories" increased by 3.7 per cent, with increases in the items of this group ranging between 1.9 per cent and 8.3 per cent. In addition, the average prices of "Tiles and Marble" advanced by 2.6 per cent, while "(UPVC) Pipes" and "(PVC) Pipes" by 0.9 and 0.2 per cent respectively.

In the meantime, the average prices of "Cement" dropped by 3.4 per cent, due mainly to decreases in the price of "Portland Cement\ Al- Etihad\ Ton\ UAE" by 11.3 per cent and "Sulphate Resistance\ Al- Etihad\ Ton\ U.A.E" by 5.9 per cent. The next largest fall was in the average price of "Aggregates and Sand", which decreased by 3.2 per cent, followed by "Wires for residential towers" (down 3.1 per cent), "Wires for Apartments" (down 2.7 per cent) and "Power cables" (down 2.5 per cent).

SCAD's report also reviews changes in building materials prices in May 2012 as compared to May 2011, revealing falls in the average price of most groups, ranging between 0.8 per cent for "False ceilings" and 20.4 per cent for "Wires for apartments". In addition, the average prices of "Wires for small buildings" decreased by 16.5 per cent, "(PVC) pipes" by 16.1 per cent, "Power cable" by 8.0 per cent and "Steel" by 6.6 per cent.

The average prices of "Diesel", "Roofing materials" and "Sanitary ware- bathroom set with accessories" showed no change in May 2012 compared with the same period in the previous year.

On the other hand price increases were reported for a range of other groups during May 2012: the "Aggregates and Sand" group rose by 25.3 per cent, "Glass" by 18.3 per cent and "Waterproofing products" by 17.1 per cent.

SCAD's monthly report of building materials prices report surveys the prices of 21 groups of commodities and services that represent the most important materials used in the construction activity, including cement, aggregate, sand, wood, steel, concrete, cement blocks, etc.

SCAD has published this report since 2008. The report data are collected by the Centre's field staff on a monthly basis, in line with the directives of the emirate's leadership for the development of economic sectors and support of their stability in all areas of interest to decision makers, policy planners, researchers, etc.

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