Building materials made of copper had some of the highest price growth rates in the U.S. in December 2024 in comparison to the previous year. The growth rate of the cost of many construction materials was much lower than in 2023. It is important to note, though, that the figures provided are Producer Price Indices, which cover production within the United States, but do not include imports or tariffs. This might matter for lumber, as Canada's wood production is normally large enough that the U.S. can import it from its neighboring country. Construction material prices in the United Kingdom Similarly to the inflation trends in the U.S. at that time, the price growth rate of construction materials in the UK were generally lower 2023 than in 2022. Nevertheless, the cost of some construction materials in the UK still soared that year, with several of those items reaching price growth rates of over 10 or even of over 14 percent. Considering that those materials make up a very big share of the costs incurred for a construction project, those developments may also have affected the average construction output price in the UK. Construction material shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic During the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic, there often were supply problems and material shortages, which created instability in the construction market. According to a survey among construction contractors, the construction materials most affected by shortages in the U.S. during most of 2021 were steel and lumber. This was also a problem on the other side of the Atlantic: The share of building construction companies experiencing shortages in Germany soared between March and June 2021, staying at high levels for over a year. Meanwhile, the shortage of material or equipment was one of the main factors limiting the building activity in France in June 2022.

The production price index (PPI) for construction materials and components in the United States decreased slightly in 2024. Up until 2020, construction prices had been rising fairly steadily. However, in the years after that construction producer prices have been very unstable. Production price index A PPI of 342 in 2022, indicates that the real-world price has risen by 242 percent in comparison to the base year - 1982 in this case. Similarly, under the same baseline, the PPI for construction machinery and equipment has also risen steadily until 2018. Like all prices, there are regional differences within the United States. The PPI acts as a measurement for the average changes in prices that domestic producers receive for their output. In the United States, the PPI is one of the oldest continuous statistical datasets published by the government. Common construction materials Some building materials are essential to construction work, and the decision on which to use is important for the life and the endurance of the building. Materials such as cement, steel, and sand are essential to many construction projects. The production of cement is tightly linked to the demand that comes from the construction industry. The durability and potency of steel gives it an advantage over wood and concrete, providing buildings with a higher resistance but a cheaper price tag. Sand is commonly used in buildings, but it is especially common in roads that require stones of various grades and granulation.

The prices of many construction materials in the United Kingdom kept increasing in 2024, but more moderately than in previous years. There were also several building materials whose prices fell that year. One of the most extreme examples was the price of flexible plastic pipes and fittings, which rose by over 14 percent that year. The price of a couple steel products fell by over 10 percent that year. In late 2024, copper-based products were among the building materials with the highest price increases in the U.S.

This statistic displays the prices for construction materials in the United States as of February 2018, broken down by type. The average price for Portland cement amounted to about 113.58 U.S. dollars per metric ton.

The prices of most construction materials in Mexico increased from January to October 2024. Ready-mixed concrete increased its cost by over 8.6 percent from 2023 to the first 10 months of 2024. Meanwhile, the price of wire products decreased by 10.8 percent during that period. Building material costs in the United States followed a similar trend that year.

In 2019. the prices for all selected materials increased in China. Cement had an index value of 102.7, and rolled steel had an index value of just over 100. The price for steel and cement fluctuated over the years, whereas the price for timber remained relatively stable. Especially steel is very sensitive to global price changes because China depends on coal and iron imports.

Material costs for new non-residential construction in the United Kingdom grew by almost 67 percent between 2015 and June 2022. The annual average prices of construction materials used for repairs, new housing, and other new construction work increased at a similar pace during that period. By June 2022, the aggregate prices of materials soared for all types of construction work.

The material costs in building construction in Brazil in January 2024 amounted to over 925 Brazilian reals per square meter. That was slightly lower than in the previous year. Materials represented over 46 percent of the building construction costs in the country in 2023, ranking behind personnel costs.

Cement, lime, and plaster were the types of construction materials with the highest price increases in Italy in 2023. Meanwhile, the cost of shaping and processing flat glass, the following product in the ranking, was roughly 11.8 percent higher in 2023 than in the previous year. Metal products had the largest construction material price increases in Germany that year.

As of 2023, the prices of roof tiling and ceramic roof tiling per square meter reached 10 and 9.09 U.S. dollars, around 99 and 90 Moroccan dirhams, respectively. That same year, there was an overall increase in inflation rates in Africa, rendering construction materials less affordable for low-income households. Comparatively, the price of the cheapest, newly-built house by a private developer in urban areas was around 25,253 U.S. dollars, some 250,000 Moroccan dirhams.

The most significant change in the prices of the listed building materials in Russia was observed for cement, the price of which saw a nearly 17-percent increase at the end of 2023 compared to the previous year. Lumber, clipboard, fiberboard, and particleboard, on the other hand, saw a 4.6-percent price decline.

In 2023, the producer price of most construction products in France was at least five percent higher than in the previous year. Cement, along with gravel and sand, clays and kaolins, were some of the materials with the highest price increases at a rate of roughly 16 percent. The producer price of clay building materials in the French industry for all markets increased by over 13.5 percent from 2022 to 2023.

Cement, lime and plaster had one of the construction materials with the highest price increases in the Netherlands in 2023. The cost of bricks, tiles and construction products, in baked clay that year was nearly 22 percent higher than in the previous year, making it the product with the second-highest annual growth rate on the list. Meanwhile, the price of metal structures and parts of structures decreased by over seven percent in 2023. Metal products also had the largest construction material price increases in Germany.

Most of the materials used in construction with the highest price increase in Germany in 2023 contained steel, iron, or other metals. Apart from that product category, the cost of products of concrete, cement, and gypsum had growth rates of over one percent. That year, one of the construction materials in Spain with the highest price increase was cement.

In the fiscal year 2023, the price index for building construction materials in Japan stood at 155 index points. After rising significantly in 2021 and 2022, prices for building materials declined in 2023.

As of December 2024, in Malaysia, mild steel round bars had the highest average price per metric ton at around 3,700 Malaysian ringgit. By comparison, the price of aggregates was 45.4 Malaysian ringgit per metric ton.

In June 2024, Poland's price growth rate for construction materials was negative, reaching -1.3 percent, a five percentage point decrease from the previous year.

The price of construction materials in the Lima metropolitan area increased by less than one percent in 2023. In contrast, construction material prices saw annual growth rates of over 11 percent in 2021 and 2022. Construction material costs have fluctuated significantly during the past decades, with prices decreasing in 2009 after a steep increase in the previous year. The annual growth rate of building material costs in Chile also peaked in 2022.

ArcelorMittal ranked first among the world’s largest global construction material manufacturers in 2023. However, this company with headquarters in Luxembourg manufactures steel, not just for the construction products. Saint-Gobain, the second company with the highest revenue, was mainly focused on the production of construction and other high-performing materials. Saint-Gobain's revenue was much higher than at the start of the 2000s. Its sales were significantly higher than those of the next entry in the list, China National Building. Building materials Building materials manufacturers produce materials which are used for construction and include a wide variety of materials. Building materials can be categorized into naturally-occurring materials like wood and timber, and man-made substances like cement and glass. New building standards and concerns such as natural disasters and other hazards have put increased pressure on manufacturers to increase the strength, durability, and reliability of their building materials. Construction worker shortage? The construction materials sector has recovered since the 2009 Recession and is growing along with the construction industry. However, a shortage in the construction workforce has been a consistent trend in many countries, which has lead to delayed projects as well as higher prices. Trade workers are some of the positions with the highest number of job vacancies in the construction industry in Canada. Nevertheless, there are also some other important obstacles that the construction sector is facing, such as the rising prices of construction materials.

The construction material cost index in Turkey showed a steady increase from January 2015 to July 2024. As of July 2024, the construction material cost index peaked at approximately 1,468 index points.